


What-Ifs and Temporal Shifts

by darknessfactor



Series: The Void Under Our Skin [2]
Category: Dishonored (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, Gen, High Chaos Daud, High Chaos Emily Kaldwin, Low Chaos Emily Kaldwin, Not exactly DOTO compliant, Post-Dishonored 2 (Video Game), The Void, Time Travel issues, again it'll make sense, it'll make sense I promise, yes it's BOTH
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-12
Updated: 2017-10-18
Packaged: 2018-12-14 08:02:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 43,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11778846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darknessfactor/pseuds/darknessfactor
Summary: "This isn't what I wanted," Billie snarled, clenching her fists."Then what do you want?" Daud pressed.  "Freedom?  Money?  For the Empress to not want to slice open both of our throats?""I'll settle for the right world."Billie walks the line between two very different Karnacas.  In one, a fading Daud insists that her hallucinations are the doing of the Outsider, and can be stopped with his death.  In another, Alexandria Hypatia searches for her own truth as well as Billie's.All Billie wants is to go home.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> So I have started writing the sequel, though this time I'll be posting as I write, because I wanted to at least get this published before DOTO comes out (considering DOTO will probably completely Joss it). 
> 
> This is _not_ what I think Death of the Outsider will be; rather, I'm just incorporating some of my theories about DOTO into a plot for the sequel to WBPOS. The main story of this fic has very little to do with that one, but the prologue might not make as much sense without having read that first, and one of the original characters from that fic will make an appearance later down the line.
> 
> The relationship between Emily and Billie will not be as prominent in this as it was in the last one, though it will be referred to often.
> 
> Some of the tags you see may confuse you. They will make sense later. Also, I apologize for the long-ass summary.
> 
> Enjoy!

“At any rate, we’re ready.  We can’t be near the pattern on the floor, one of us might interfere.”

Billie locked eyes with Ysannifer as Marta all but shoved the rest of the former witches out of the room.  She held Ysannifer’s gaze, knowing that Ysannifer was promising silent retribution if nothing came of the ritual Billie was about to perform - regardless of whether or not it was Billie’s fault if it went wrong.

She really hoped it didn’t go wrong.

Billie turned her focus back to Marta.  The Tyvian had a harried look on her face as she circled around the room once more, careful to avoid placing her feet on the glowing whale oil on the floor.  Her black hair was matted, haphazardly tied back while strands of it hung over her face.  Her hands were shaking.

Years of experience, both in assassination and sailing, had taught Billie the value of steady hands.  She knew how to regulate her breathing and keep her fear tightly locked down, when the need arose, and it was for that reason that her hands - one gripping a lock of Talsin’s hair, the other clutching a piece of whalebone - didn’t tremble in the slightest.

Marta finished her loop around the room, coming to a stop in front of Billie.

“What do I need to do?” Billie asked.

“You know how to reach out for the Void, yes?”  Before Billie had the chance to so much as nod, Marta continued.  “We have given you matches.  Talsin’s hair must be placed on the rat’s skull, and then you light the hair with the match.  While it burns, you focus on the Void.  Draw on it, pull it through the rat’s skull and then through the bone charm you have chosen.  As soon as something appears on the whalebone, which you should be holding in your other hand, then you stop.  Let go of the Void.  Too much can - “

“Drive me mad,” Billie finished, remembering the intoxication of working for Delilah and imagining that the Void would increase that tenfold.  “I know.”

As if on cue, she started to hear the whispers that she usually associated with using Void Gaze.  Billie was never able to make out what it was the voices were saying, but there was a difference: this time, it was like the whispers were physically present.  She could feel them brushing against her skin, and resisted the urge to shiver.  

She almost jumped when Marta grasped her arm.

“Please,” she begged, her eyes wide and desperate.  “ _ Please _ , we can’t - we can’t lose Talsin.  She’s the best of us.”

The raw emotion in Marta’s voice made Billie want to reassure her, but the whispers were growing more insistent, and the most she could do was nod in response.  Marta didn’t look all that comforted, but she left the room after only a moment’s hesitation, leaving Billie to conduct the ritual on her own.

Billie breathed in to steady herself.  She crouched down in front of the rat’s skull, feeling oddly reverent as she placed Talsin’s lock of hair on top of it.  Lighting the match was simple, and setting fire to the hair was even simpler, but a sudden rush of fear suddenly made the next part seem almost impossible.  She steeled herself, gripping the bare piece of whalebone with both hands and straightening until she was standing again.

The whispers grew, and Billie reached for the Void.

The next thing she knew, she was falling.

She tried to scream, the bitter taste of terror flooding her mouth.  She didn’t know if she succeeded, as the cacophony of voices drowned out all other sounds.  She felt like she was breathing in salt water, and the feeling of falling abruptly stopped, leaving her with a sensation of weightlessness.  It was both a familiar and alien feeling, having only ever had fringe access to the Void in the past.

_ Talsin _ , something in the back of her mind whispered.   _ Focus on Talsin. _

Billie couldn’t see, only hear.  She summoned every memory she had of the young woman, willing the Void to show her where she was, similarly to how she willed it to pull her through space and become a shadow.  The Void resisted her will, reluctant to give her Talsin’s location so easily, and the whispers became angry, like protests.  

Billie knew what it wanted, so she opened herself up to the Void even further.

Sailors were taught to respect the ocean, but not to fear drowning.  The Void was trying to drown her, Billie realized.  It filled her ears with whispers, her mouth with saltwater, and her eyes with darkness.  The thudding of her heart seemed sluggish, and she could only feel numbness otherwise, and it was...

... _ good _ .

She wanted more.

It was easy to take more.  A thrill ran through her as the sensations increased, and it was almost too easy, now to reach out for Talsin and find her.  She knew where Talsin was, she  _ was  _ Talsin, she could feel the young woman’s presence in her bones.  If she could just reach for more of the Void, she knew she would be able to bring Talsin to her -

_ No _ .

Billie didn’t know if the word was her own or someone else’s, but suddenly she could feel fear again, and she realized that she was in far, far too deep.  The adrenaline that flooded her system shoved the Void out, blocking out the whispers and the water and the darkness, and the violence of her own reaction threw her back into her body so hard that she had to choke back a scream.

For a split second, cold enveloped her limbs.  And then one of her limbs was gone, and her depth perception became... wrong.  She turned her head to look down at her elbow; the darkness of her surroundings wasn’t quite enough to keep her from seeing that her arm was missing below it.

Billie opened her mouth to swear, but then the world seem to dissolve and reform around her, and her arm was back.  She blinked, almost falling to her knees as she attempted to regain her balance, and registered a sickening feeling within her - like a pit of sludge rested in her stomach, as though she’d drunk some of the whale oil.  There was also a tugging sensation, the remnants of the bond she’d formed with Talsin, pulling at her inexorably.

More alarming, however, was the fact that Billie couldn’t let the Void go completely.  It sat in the back of her throat.  The whispers, though reduced in volume, still remained in her ears.  

The room seemed to crawl with shadows.

Billie inhaled sharply, looking down to see two symbols burned into the whalebone, and that noise was enough to cause the rest of the former witches to flood back into the room.

Marta stalked up to her.  “The symbols on the bone will having meaning to you, and you alone,” she said.  “Do you know where she is?”

“I...”  Speaking was suddenly difficult, like Billie had forgotten how to form words.  “I... she’s in the sewers.  I  _ know  _ where, but...”

_ But I don’t know what the cost was.  I don’t understand what I just did to myself. _

Darren half-fell, half-sat on the floor, his eyes closing.  “She’s alive,” he breathed.  “Talsin’s still alive.”

Billie remembered her lessons about compartmentalizing fear, and did her best to apply them to the presence of the Void within herself.  Straightening her spine and forcing herself to focus, Billie spoke.

“Then I need to get there.  Fast.”


	2. Part I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I'm making surprisingly good time on this so far. This chapter is set in the present, so it's not just a re-hash of a scene from WBPOS. There are some mentions of characters from that, but nothing too substantial. 
> 
> I'm happy because I figured out how I was going to characterize certain characters in this, thank god - I wasn't sure until yesterday. Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

If Billie angled her head so that it faced away from the sun, it looked as though Dunwall was bathed in blood.

The sight was more unnerving than it should’ve been, considering her past and even her current occupation.  A chill ran down her spine, and her left hand was gripping her right elbow before she could think about controlling her reaction.  Billie lowered her hand back to her side immediately, scowling.

A light breeze tickled her face as she watched the sunset from the open window of the royal quarters.  Behind her, the only sounds were of Emily mumbling to herself and the scratch of her pen across paper.  The dying light heralded falling temperatures, something that reminded Billie of the colder months that were on their way.

Billie brushed a few strands of hair out of her eyes - she was due for another appointment with the hairdresser - when her gaze fell on her right hand.  Or, lack thereof.

She bit down on her lip as hard as she could, already knowing what she would see when she looked back out the window.  Instead of the gray landscape of Dunwall, it was the more colorful city of Karnaca that was spread before her.  Billie closed her eyes, feeling echoes of pain from just above her right elbow, and reached out with her right hand.

It landed on the window ledge.  The stone was cold beneath her palm.

Opening her eyes again revealed that her arm was intact.  Dunwall was fading under the setting sun.  Emily was there a second later, slipping her arms around Billie’s waist and resting her head on her shoulder.

“You’ve been quiet,” Emily remarked.

Billie snorted.  As if  _ that  _ was weird.

“Quieter than usual, I mean.”

“I’ve had a lot on my mind,” Billie said, unwilling to admit more than that.  She let herself relax against Emily, feeling Emily’s arms tighten around her.

“Mmm.  Okay.”  Emily always seemed to know when Billie was feeling off-balance, but she never pushed for Billie to tell her why.  “Do you want to sleep in the safe room again?”

When Billie had first found out about Emily’s habit of sleeping in her safe room, she hadn’t known what to make of it.  Well, no, that was a lie - she’d been jealous.  Growing up, she never had a place to retreat to in order to feel safe enough to sleep - she simply learned to sleep as lightly as possible, and to wake at the smallest sound.  

That jealous part of her had been overwhelmed by guilt, aware that it was partially her fault that Emily felt the need to sleep in what was essentially a heavily-fortified bunker.  Nowadays, she was grateful for the safe room.  She liked to tell herself that it was because spending the night there made it easier for her to anticipate an assassin, but the truth was that she, too, had started to depend upon its security.

It didn’t  _ really  _ protect her from the visions, but it was nice to pretend.

“Yeah,” Billie agreed, letting out a small sigh when Emily pressed a kiss to her neck.  She gently extricated herself from Emily's arms, but tangled their fingers together as she led the way to the safe room door, Emily following without complaint.

She took stock of Emily's appearance the next time she caught a glimpse of her face, noting the shadows beneath her eyes and her otherwise-healthy coloring.  Though court had proceeded the same as always that day, Emily was in the midst of mediating a trade dispute between Tyvia and Serkonos - one that seemed to persist, no matter how many times Emily attempted to resolve it.

In a few days, they would be hosting the Tyvian ambassador, as well as (in a strange turn of events) Paolo, or Councilman Escobar, as he was now called.  The rest of the Council of Serkonos, as they were called, had chosen the former Howler as their envoy.

Void help them.

Apparently, that wasn't something Emily was interested in discussing - which was no surprise to Billie.  What was surprising was when Emily, once they were inside the safe room, turned to her and asked, “What did you think of the City Council’s proposal from today?”

“What is that?  A trick question?”

Emily chuckled, settling onto the sofa.  “There's no wrong answer, Billie.  I'll go first, if it makes you feel any better.”

Billie rolled her eyes.  “Their proposal was a not-so-subtle power grab.  ‘The ability to countermand Imperial Orders that have a direct impact on Dunwall’ can be stretched pretty far.  You’d think that they’d have more interest in the well-being of the citizens they represent.”

“I think that Bezos, Amandrat, and Williams all genuinely believe that having control over my decrees  _ is  _ better for the well-being of their citizens,” Emily said.  “There are others on the Council who know it for what it is, and want it because they want power.  At the very least, Councilwoman Alsam is against it.”

“Because she knows better,” Billie pointed out.

“She sent me a private memo warning me of it,” Emily admitted.  Billie knew that ‘private memo meant some sort of magic - a more discreet method of sending a message.  “But publicly, she had to agree.  It would’ve looked strange to be the only one so firmly in my corner.”

“They can’t put it through without your approval.”

“True,” Emily admitted.  “But my denial will make it look like I’m trying to be the oppressive Empress my aunt was.  Or at least, that’s likely how they’ll paint it to the press.  As if I don’t get enough trouble from the papers already.  Between the Council fighting me, Parliament fighting me, and the Council and Parliament fighting each other, my hair will turn white by the end of the year.”

Billie felt a light wave of dizziness, reminding her that she hadn’t slept well the previous night and that she was likely going to collapse if she didn’t retire soon.  She continued listening to Emily’s musings about the goings-on in the Empire while she headed over to the where her nightclothes had been left earlier that morning, shucking her jacket, pants, shirt, and underthings and slipping them on.

She felt Emily’s eyes on her as she went over to the washbasin.  “High Overseer Lumis is being cagier than usual,” Emily informed her.  “He won’t say it out loud, but Father tells me that he supports the Council’s proposal.”

Billie splashed water on her face a few times, then dried it and went back to the sofa, sinking down next to Emily and letting her bone-deep weariness overtake her.  “I’m not surprised.  Corvo told me that he thinks I’m a witch.  He might even suspect that I have you under my control.”

While they were a good deal more discreet in their relationship than Corvo and Empress Jessamine had been (at least, Billie liked to think they were), rumors still abounded.

“There’s some irony in that,” Emily murmured, smirking down at her Marked hand.  

“Well, there is the fact that I don’t have a Mark, and I don’t wear gloves, so it’s fairly obvious.”

Billie’s words started to slur a bit, and she could feel her eyelids growing heavy.  She was barely aware of Emily exhaling, before arms wrapped around her shoulders.  Emily shifted their positions so that Billie was reclining with her head on Emily’s chest, with Emily’s legs on either side of her.  

“You were thrashing again last night,” Emily said, combing her fingers through Billie’s hair.  “Try to rest this time.”  

The repetitive motion destroyed what little resistance Billie had to falling asleep, and she drifted off to Emily humming sea shanties.

* * *

She was running.

Up ahead, the chandelier - 

Billie sprinted towards the railing of the main staircase, getting one foot up onto it and using it as a springboard to leap up and grab the chandelier with both hands.  She hoisted herself up, grimacing at the way her arms protested, and crouched on the chandelier’s frame.  It stopped swinging just as the Grand Guard soldiers hurried into the room.

Her thoughts went to the throwing knives in her belt.  She dismissed the idea, knowing that she would only be able to take out one, and doing so would alert the rest to where she was.

“Search the area!”

There were five in total, and they spread out in a star formation, each heading for a different part of the foyer.  Billie breathed as slowly as she could, keeping herself quiet.  The taste of adrenaline in her mouth, the feel of a knife’s hilt in her palm, the stillness of anticipation - it was all familiar.

What was unfamiliar were the protests of her muscles, the throbbing of her wrist where she was fairly sure she had twisted it, and the sense that she just wasn’t fast enough.  She had survived without the Arcane Bond for many long years, but for the first time she wished that she had the Void’s assistance again, in only to counterbalance her age.

“Move on to the next room,” one of the guards barked, and the five gathered at the far end of the room, exiting through a set of double doors.  Billie continued to keep her breathing light, forcing herself to remember her lessons in patience.  Never had been one of her strong suits, in spite of Daud’s attempts to drill it into her.  She waited until the sounds of the guards faded into complete silence, before she slid down to the floor from the chandelier, landing like a cat.

Something was wrong.  She’d only caught a glimpse of Aramis, but he - 

Billie shook her head.   _ Focus on getting out. _

Easier said than done, considering that the five guards had just exited out into the courtyard, which was where she needed to go.  Billie made her way over to the door, slowing her footsteps to keep them silent, and inwardly cursed the way her wrist twinged when she tightened her grip on her knife.

Would that she could have a wristbow.  

_ Whatever happened tonight, Aramis didn’t make it out,  _ Billie thought.   _ Now I might not make it out either. _

She took a deep breath, then open the door a crack, enough to get a view of the courtyard.  She couldn’t see two of the guards, but she could just make out the other three, as well as what parts of the courtyard they were searching through.  Billie’s mind raced as she considered and discarded possible ways of fighting through them; the challenge would be the two that weren’t visible.  

Just as she was considering going back to the chandelier and waiting until they got tired of looking, she heard one of them say, “She’ll have to come out eventually.  No reason for us to rush.”

Her heart sank.

Billie picked the strategy that had the best outcome, and quickly slipped through the door, immediately crouching behind one of the decorative shrubs.  She counted each footstep of the nearest guard, holding her breath, until she could see his feet through the tangle of leaves, then struck like a snake.

She straightened up, slid her blade through his throat, and pulled him behind the shrub in one smooth movement.  The lack of noise indicated that she had gotten away with it, at least until someone noticed his absence.  One down, four to go.

Billie paused for a moment.  The shrub limited her field of vision, but she could now make out one of the guards that had been previously hidden from her, patrolling on the far left side of the main doors.  He was nearly parallel to her, and she froze when she thought his head turned in her direction, but he continue to move in a patrol path without stopping.  She relaxed fractionally.

The nearest guard was approaching her position, and was some ten feet away.  Billie grabbed one of the throwing knives in her belt, leaned around the shrub, and let it fly.  

This time the guard spotted her, her eyes widening even as the knife was buried in her throat.  She let out a dying gurgle that finally seemed to catch the attention of one of the others.

“Hey, Hallie, are you - oh, fuck!”

His alarmed shout alerted the guard patrolling all the way on the left side of the courtyard, and this time the guard’s gaze did lock on to Billie.

“There!” he shouted.  “She’s there!”

Knowing she had run of out time, Billie jumped up from the shrub and began to run for the entrance to the courtyard, zigzagging to avoid the bullets from one of the guard’s shotguns.  The third and final guard - the one she never managed to spot - was waiting for her at the exit, sword already drawn.

“Void take you!” he snarled.

Billie knew enough not to waste breath on talking during a fight; she ducked underneath his first swing and aimed a neat slash at his abdomen, attempting to slice open his stomach.  The guard was smart enough to jump backwards to avoid it, but even fifteen years away from her prime Billie was faster, and she followed his movement, parrying another swing of his sword before ducking around him and getting him into a chokehold.

Her right arm was wrapped around his neck, and she could see over his shoulder that his comrades were hurrying over.  One fell back, looking alarmed at the sight of her gripping him, but the other’s face was contorted with rage, and his arm was outstretched.

“Grillam,  _ no  _ \- “ shouted the first.

Billie heard a clank of metal hitting stone, and her eyes traveled to the grenade at her and her captive’s feet a split second too late.

“Billie!”

She couldn’t stop herself from screaming, the pain agonizing as the blast seared her forearm and shattered the bone, while her eye was blinded by the same fire.  She barely registered the splatter of blood as the man she held was ripped to pieces by the concussive force, feeling her own feet leave the ground - 

“ _ Billie _ !”

Someone was gripping her shoulders, holding her in place.  It had to be one of the guards, taking her prisoner even after they had just killed one of their own.  Billie thrashed in their grasp, trying to get away from the agony as much as she was trying to get away from them.

Then: a sharper, clearer pain on one side of her face, and the agony vanished.  Billie blinked up at the worried face of Emily, who was pinning her to the mattress.  Her eyes roved over Billie’s face, as though she would be able to see what Billie had dreamt of in her expression.

“You good now?” Emily asked quietly.

_ No _ , but she nodded shakily.  Emily released her, allowing her to sit up and take in deep, rattling breaths.  Emily sat on her heels next to Billie, twisting her hands in her lap before she wordlessly offered one to Billie, who only hesitated a moment before she took it, grasping it tightly.

“What happened?” Emily asked.

Billie swallowed, but her voice came out surprisingly steady.  “I don’t know.  There was a grenade, and... it felt real.”

She thought she could still feel the viscera of the guard all over her, soaking through her nightclothes.  She tried to will the sensation away, then eventually gave up and focused instead on Emily’s thumb stroking her knuckles.  The movement was enough to slow her racing heart, and for a few moments Billie couldn’t have been more grateful to not be alone.

She leaned back until her head hit the pillow, using their joined hands to pull Emily with her.  She wrapped one arm around Emily’s waist and tucked Emily’s head beneath her chin, breathing in and catching a faint whiff of the shampoo Emily used.  Emily sighed and shifted closer, her breaths hitting Billie’s collarbone.  

“Try to get some rest,” Emily murmured.  “I’m here.”

“I know,” Billie whispered back.  She hated that it couldn’t be enough.

* * *

“And that,” Councilman Bezos concluded, “Is why it is no longer feasible for the Empress to be held unaccountable for her actions.  This proposal, should it be approved, will allow us to ensure that the rise of a mad, power-hungry despot like Delilah will be impossible.”

A polite applause followed his statement, mostly from the other City Council members.  Billie caught Sevrina Alsam’s eye, noting the wry look on the other woman’s face.  Sevrina might not have been able to publicly denounce the proposal, but it was clear that  _ she  _ was not Emily’s enemy.

She couldn’t speak for the rest of the room, however.

Emily, her top advisors, and the City Council were all present, having a heated debate over Proposal 14.  ‘Heated’ meaning that the councilors and advisors were making thinly-veiled attempts to debunk either the argument against the proposal or the proposal itself, respectively.  Emily appeared to be content to watch and observe for the moment, and Billie kept to the edges of the room, patrolling around and likely making both the councilors and the advisors nervous.

Billie blinked once and though she saw a gray, bulky ship floating on rough waves.  She blinked again, and the image was gone.

“Councilwoman Alsam?” Bezos said.  “I believe you had something to add?”

Sevrina was seated across the table from where Billie stood, and this time when Billie turned to look at her they were careful not to make eye contact with one another.  She noticed that Emily had leaned forward in interest.

“Thank you, Councilman Bezos,” Sevrina said, her voice no longer carrying the rasp that had been a side effect of nearly a week of captivity.  “I, too, believe that a balance of power is necessary in order for the good of Dunwall - nay, even the good of the Empire itself - to become the Empress’ top priority.  Though I do believe that Empress Emily has made great strides in bringing the Empire back from the brink, she must go further to ensure that someone like Delilah is unable to take power.”

Billie was almost certain that Delilah was turning over in her grave because of the irony of that statement.

“Well-spoken, Councilwoman Alsam.”  Emily was speaking for the first time.  She rose from her seat at the head of the table, assuming a parade rest pose.  Billie circled back around to her, taking up her position just behind Emily and to the side.

“I do believe that a balance of power is necessary,” Emily said.  “However, currently I am concerned that unless Proposal 14 is amended, it will result in an  _ imbalance  _ of power.”

“Please elaborate, your majesty,” Sevrina said.  A suspicion arose in Billie’s mind, and she studied Sevrina carefully before she focused on Emily herself.

“By which I mean, the language of the proposal is deliberately vague,” Emily said.  “‘The good of Dunwall’ can be stretched far - far enough that you could theoretically reject every one of my Imperial Orders in the future.  I created the City Council because it would be concerned with the city, but I know there are those who believe that Dunwall  _ is  _ the Empire.  It would not surprise me if there were some who subscribe to that belief on this council.”

“What are you suggesting, your majesty?” asked Councilman Williams, a frown on his long face.

“I want the language to be more concrete,” Emily said.  “I want you to specify what the ‘good of Dunwall’ is.  I want a caveat in place that decrees that  _ all  _ of the council members must agree to overturn one of my orders in order for an Imperial Order to be cancelled.  And, for the sake of full disclosure, I’m going to draft an Imperial Order that will allow the Parliament the same power.”

A hush fell over the room at Emily’s last statement, and Billie only just stopped herself from smiling.  

“I’m rejecting Proposal 14 as is,” Emily said.  “And declaring this session adjourned.  You are all dismissed.”

The City Council appeared to be frozen in their seats for a few seconds - all except Sevrina, who stood and all but floated to the door, slipping through it before any of the other councilors even remembered to breathe.  Slowly, the rest of them followed suit, all departing with either dejected, angry, or blank looks on their faces.  Some of the council members were more adept at controlling their emotions than others.

Emily’s advisors were the next to leave, each bowing to Emily before they exited the room.  They, at least, seemed satisfied with the day’s proceedings.

Billie waited until the last of the advisors left before she spoke.  “Nice touch at the end there.”

Emily gave a half-hearted smile.  “Thanks.  I knew they wouldn’t like their proposal as much if they realized I was going to insist on giving the same power to Parliament as well.  They’re going to start wondering if they want their rivals to have that kind of power.  They’ll wonder if it’s worth it.”

“Did you and Sevrina have that little exchange planned?”

“I wondered if you’d pick up on that.”

The two of them exited the room, heading instead for the throne room so that Emily could receive petitioners for the day.  The halls of Dunwall Tower were all but deserted, for once, with Emily having sent out most of the guard at Corvo’s request; apparently he was looking into some gang activity, and it had concerned him enough that he wanted the City Watch to have more help.

The line of petitioners was shorter than normal, not even going all the way back to the doors.  Emily settled onto the throne and folded her hands in her lap, adopting the pose of the benign ruler.  Billie took her place at Emily’s side, the stark reminder that the Empress was not to be trifled with.

It was during the petitions that she started to hear it.

The whispers sometimes plagued Billie in later hours, but never before had they been so insistent, apart from when she first conducted the ritual to find Talsin.  They filled her ears, and she had to resist the temptation to give a shake of her head in order to dispel them.  The sight of the petitioners wavered before her, and an echo of the pain from her dream returned.

Billie forced herself to take deeper breaths.  The whispers did not stop.

She focused on Emily, on the genuine smile on her face as she spoke to a mother of two, on the softness in her eyes that she so rarely showed to others - 

The interior of the ship was cold, and dank.  

Billie moved in near-silence, her impatience getting the better of her.  Rather than try to Displace herself past the open doorway, where the guards were passing the time, she strode past brazenly, hearing the alarmed gasp that followed her.  She waited until thudding footsteps rang in her ears, then whirled around and met the guard’s sword with the Knife.  It was almost too easy to disarm him, and she called upon the Knife’s power to throw him aside.

Another followed, soon after - not a guard, but a man of higher class.  Likely the warden.  It took only one Displacement before she was sliding her blade through his throat.

She did not, however, turn in time to meet the third man who attacked her, and his meaty fist caught her jaw.  The whispers were back - the fucking  _ whispers _ , no wonder she hadn’t heard him coming - 

Billie went down, her jaw throbbing in pain.

“Lady Foster!”

The words of her title rang through her ears, and for a moment Billie nearly lashed out blindly before she realized that she wasn’t holding the Knife anymore.  She looked around wildly, didn’t know where she was - this wasn’t right, she was supposed to be freeing - 

But the thought faded as she realized that Emily and Corvo were both kneeling above her, staring in concern.  The whispers of the Void were gone, replaced by the whispers of the court.  Billie thought if she concentrated enough, she could feel a man’s blood on her hands.  

“We must insist that the petitioners leave,” Emily was insisting.  “My Lady Protector is indisposed.”

Corvo, meanwhile, caught Billie’s eye and raised an eyebrow.  Billie swallowed, knowing that the time for hiding whatever it was that was wrong with her was over.

“Get me out of here,” she said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> She's fine. Probably. (Not.)


	3. Part II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just so people know, this is the last chapter with major Emily/Billie moments for a good long while. Most of the fic, actually. Just as a word of warning.
> 
> Enjoy!

“I don’t know how else to explain it,” Billie said, for what felt like the tenth time.  “At first, it was just a feeling that everything around me was wrong.  Now, I still feel that, but I keep seeing things.  Sometimes it’s like I’m living someone else’s life, but that usually only happens in the dreams.”

They were in the royal quarters.  Billie was reclining on the pillows, feeling a bit like she was some kind of fainting damsel, while Emily sat on the edge of the bed.  Corvo was leaning against Emily’s desk.  The father-daughter resemblance had never stood out to Billie as much as it did in that moment, with the two of them wearing identical frowns on their faces.

“Whatever it is, it has to be more than dreams,” Emily stated.  “Somehow you got hurt because of your hallucination, but I watched you fall, and you didn’t come close to hitting your head.  It’s like someone punched you in the jaw.”

Billie’s jaw no longer throbbed, thanks to the bone charm that accelerated her healing, but she would have taken the ache of a bruised jaw over the feeling of being disconnected from reality any day.  She felt like she was hearing Emily and Corvo speak through a wall, and the sickening feeling that always lingered in the pit of her stomach was making her taste bile in her throat.  If she concentrated hard enough, she could hear the whispers of the Void around her.

“This has been happening since the ritual to find Talsin, hasn’t it?” Emily asked.  “You seemed... spooked, after that.  I should’ve realized that it never stopped.”

“Don’t,” Billie sighed.  “I’m good at keeping things hidden.”

“You looked into the Void, didn’t you,” Corvo said.  It wasn’t a question.

“It was the only way to find Talsin before Aseranna did who-knows-what to her,” Billie snapped, her shitty feeling putting her on the defensive.

Corvo put up his hands.  “I know, Billie.  Telamono made it sound like it would be simpler than that.”

Billie didn’t know how to tell them that she’d reached for too much, that she’d been breathing in the Void and letting it flow through her bloodstream before she’d gotten ahold of herself.  She didn’t know how to tell them that every day she felt the same  _ need  _ to reach for it again, a hunger than never left her.  

“Things are never simple when it comes to witches,” she muttered instead.  Delilah Copperspoon, Breanna Ashworth, Jin Aseranna... they all seemed to make it their personal missions to fuck up her life.  Or maybe it was just everyone’s lives.

Talsin Beitter might have been trying to use her power for good, but Billie wasn’t going to forget that Ysannifer had killed Aseranna in cold blood.  And Ysannifer was a part of Talsin’s coven, and had no love for the royal family.

Corvo smiled humorlessly at Billie’s remark.  “Well, according to the Overseers, we’re all witches in the end, aren’t we?”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t call either of you simple.”

Emily snorted.  “Thanks.  I think.”

“I’m pretty sure that was a compliment.”  Corvo straightened up from where he’d been leaning on Emily’s desk, heading over and placing a hand on his daughter’s shoulder.  “Get some sleep soon, both of you.”

“We will,” Emily promised.  “Good night, Father.”

Corvo squeezed Emily’s shoulder, nodded at Billie, and left the room.  As soon as the door clicked shut behind him, Emily turned to Billie with a knowing look on her face.  Billie scowled reflexively, before she realized that all her cards were already on the table.  No need to hide anymore.

She was grateful for that fact.

“It’s not just that it’s still happening,” Emily said.  “It’s getting worse as well, isn’t it?”

Swallowing, Billie nodded.  “It used to only happen in my sleep.  But lately I’ve been seeing things while awake more and more.  It scares the shit out of me.  People are going to think that I’m going mad.”

“You’re not mad,” Emily said, with such conviction that it made Billie wanted to pull her down and kiss her.  “There’s something more going on here.  We just need to find out what.”

“Doesn’t help that I almost never remember what I was hallucinating about.  I just remember pain, if pain’s involved in whatever I’m seeing.”  Billie frowned.  “And what’s this ‘we’?  You have duties, your majesty.”

Emily groaned.  “Don’t start with the ‘your majesty’, you only do that to guilt me - “

“It works, doesn’t it?”

Emily stood, drawing herself up to full height and putting on her most imperious expression.  “Considering my Royal Protector is one of the citizens I’m serving, I believe I should pay the matter my full attention.”

“Your face’ll get stuck that way.”

Emily deflated.  “Should’ve known that that wouldn’t work on you.”

“Yes, you should’ve.”  Billie paused.  “I’m being serious, Emily.  Proposal 14 is not a joke; that’s what you need to be focusing on.  Not whatever this - “ she gestured to herself, not sure what else to call it - “is.”

“Billie...”

“I don’t want you involved in this - “

“Because it really scares you, right?”

Billie fell silent, that statement hitting closer to home than she’d ever admit.  Her depth perception shifted again, and for a moment it wasn’t Emily in front of her.  Instead, it was someone she never believed she’d see again.

The smile he gave her was as close to adoration as she’d ever seen from him, and she could’ve sworn that her heart stopped.  

Then it was Emily again, also smiling, though it was tinged with sadness.  Billie mirrored it with her own, her brief vision already fading from her mind.

“We never promised each other a happy ending,” she reminded Emily.

“No, we didn’t,” Emily agreed.  “But that doesn’t mean the end has to happen now.  You’re scared, and I know you want to keep me away from things that scare you.  It’s part of your job, and it’s a pretty natural reaction to that sort of thing.  Wanting to protect your loved ones.”

Billie felt her eyes start to sting.

“But I want to help you,” Emily continued.  “I may not know enough to be afraid of whatever it is, but watching you like this?  That  _ does  _ scare me.  When you collapsed today, I couldn’t even think.  Corvo had to physically stop me from Reaching over to you in front of nearly a dozen petitioners.  Please, just... at least consider letting me help.”

_ This is not what I want _ , Billie thought.   _ This isn’t what’s supposed to happen, this isn’t how this week was supposed to go, this isn’t what I want this isn’t what I  _ want - 

“I’ll think about it,” she whispered, already knowing what she would decide.

* * *

 

The last thing that Billie wanted to do was sit around and wait, but even she had to admit that rest was paramount.  A plan was already beginning to take shape in her mind, and she would need to be at her full strength in order to carry it out.  Her lack of sleep and her visions combined had left her weakened, so she spent the next few days taking advantage of Dr. Toksvig’s insistence on bedrest.  

Corvo had temporarily stepped back into his role as Royal Protector, though it was mostly for appearances.  Emily would have to make do with protecting herself for the moment (something that she was perfectly capable of, though Billie still worried that Emily was going to throw herself into one-too-many fights), as Corvo, while still able to hold his own, would likely struggle in a fight with a skilled younger man.

On her third day of lying around, Billie received a visitor.  She propped herself up on her pillows, blinking at the short, squat young woman who stepped into her quarters.

“Talsin,” she said, which received a small smile.  The taller, older woman who accompanied her was a less pleasant surprise.  “Ysannifer.”

“Lady Protector,” Ysannifer replied coldly.

Talsin elbowed Ysannifer in the side, who scowled but didn’t seem otherwise annoyed.  “Be nice,” scolded Talsin, her voice carrying a lilt that hadn’t been there the last time Billie had spoken with her.  She could almost see the Void coiling around Talsin, even if Talsin herself seemed unaware of it.  The strange light in Talsin’s eyes was new as well.

“It’s good to see you,” Billie said.  “How are things with the Women’s Hostel?”

It truly was a Women’s Hostel, though if someone who stayed there long enough proved themselves trustworthy, then Talsin was happy to share the power of her Mark with that person.  Her hands were gloved, much like Emily’s, though Billie knew that the Mark would flare through it if Talsin dared to use one of her powers here.

Talsin made her way to Billie’s bedside and hugged her, still as freely affectionate as she always had been.  Billie thanked the Void that at least Talsin hadn’t lost herself.  

“Emily sent us a message,” Talsin said, pulling away.  “She said that something is wrong, and that the ritual you used to find me did something to you?”

Billie resisted the urge to roll her eyes.  Of course Emily would send for Talsin - and of course Talsin, who joined Delilah purely so that she could help people in the first place, would come running.

“Awfully nice of you to be able to sit around for so long after merely fainting,” Ysannifer commented.  

“Awfully nice of you to come here offering help and then just stand around making snide comments,” Billie shot back.

Ysannifer merely lifted her chin in response.

Talsin twisted her hands together, her eyes darting anxiously between them.  “Ysannifer didn’t want to come,” she admitted, “but she knows more about curses of the mind than I do - Della knows the most, but she’s ill right now - and so I couldn’t think of who else to bring.  I - “

Ysannifer sighed.  “It’s alright, Talsin,” she said, approaching the other side of Billie’s bed.  “Regardless of my feelings regarding the patient, I don’t like the idea of one of us somehow accidentally cursing someone.  It’s bad for business.”

Ysannifer waved a hand across her eyes, and when it came away Billie saw that they had filmed over with black.  The sight made her want to shudder, so she turned her attention back to Talsin, who was now sitting on the edge of the bed next to hers.  

“How is the business?” she asked.  “You never answered my question.”

“Things are going well,” Talsin said, brightening.  “Turns out that Darren is the best at carving bone charms out of all of us, aside from Sevrina, anyway.  He makes a decent amount selling them on the side, though most of our profits go towards running the Hostel.  We’ve managed to expand to three buildings, now, and we’re still pretty under the radar.  We have had one Overseer inspection, though.”

“What?”

Talsin nodded.  “Yeah, but... Sevrina was there that day, and once they found out that the Hostel was endorsed by Councilwoman Alsam, they backed off pretty quickly.  They didn’t find anything, anyway.  I’ve been careful.”

“I’m sure you have,” Billie said.  “But remember not to get overconfident.  That’s when you’ll slip up.”

“Don’t worry,” Talsin replied.  “Everyone’s been keeping me on my toes.”

“Indeed,” Ysannifer agreed, the darkness receding from her eyes.  Billie turned her attention back to her, grimacing at the resigned look on Ysannifer’s face.  “I can’t see what’s wrong with you.  In fact, I can’t see you at all.  You’re shrouded by the Void.  Like it doesn’t want me to know.”

“Is there really nothing...?” Talsin asked.

“Yes,” said Ysannifer, her voice harsh.  When Talsin ducked her head, a remorseful look on her face, Ysannifer’s expression softened into a look that was actually apologetic.  “I’m sorry, Lady Foster.  I can’t even provide a diagnosis.  The only thing I can tell you is that the Void almost definitely has something to do with it.”

At Billie’s sour look, she added, “Which... you’ve figured out for yourself.”

Billie tried not to let her impatience overwhelm her, swallowing her acerbic comment and instead saying, “Thanks for trying.”  She was grateful that it didn’t come out as sarcastic.

“You’re welcome.”  It didn’t sound as stiff as Billie expected, coming from Ysannifer.  

The room was beginning to become more shadowed; preoccupied as she was with her visitors, Billie hadn’t realized that the day was nearing its end.  Orange light filtered through the windows, and both Talsin and Ysannifer glanced towards them, straightening up as though they, too, just now realized what time it was.

“We’re expected back,” Talsin said, still sounding apologetic.  She avoided Billie’s gaze, and that troubled Billie more than whatever was wrong with her.

“Talsin,” she said.  “It’s not your fault.  I still would’ve performed the ritual, even knowing the cost.  You didn’t deserve to rot down there.”

Talsin nodded, though she didn’t look all that reassured.  “Thank you for that,” she said.  “I can never thank you enough.”

“And don’t worry about me.  I’m tougher than I look.”

That elicited a quiet laugh from Talsin.  “You look plenty tough already, Lady Protector.  Have a good evening.”

The two witches made their way to the hospital wing door, Talsin leading the way.  Billie noticed that she tugged at her gloves just before she turned the knob, likely a nervous habit she’d gained.  Ysannifer did no such thing, but she did pause, turning her hard gaze back on Billie.

“Try to survive, Lady Protector,” she said.  “The Empress won’t be able to find another like you.”

Billie replied with a muttered, “I’m so glad you approve,” but Ysannifer had already left the room.

* * *

 

The chambers of the Royal Protector were adjoined with the Royal Quarters, but Billie so rarely used her own rooms these days that when she did return the space looked almost unfamiliar.  The dresser was bare of most of her essentials, which were scattered on the dresser in Emily’s room, and the bed was immaculately made and untouched.

The wardrobe, at least, looked used, and Billie was currently clearing out about half of her outfits.  She forewent the tailored coats and trousers she’d been given after becoming the Royal Protector in favor of the rougher, simpler garb that she’d owned back when she was captain of the Dreadful Wale; her white overcoat settled comfortably over her shoulders, and the trousers she now wore had been altered to hide several knives (something Rulfio had taught them all, a long time ago).  She did, however, pull on a pair of her nicer socks.  They weren’t itchy, and wouldn’t be visible underneath her boots. 

Billie never did have the time to cut her hair, so she did so now, taking a pair of shears that she’d ‘borrowed’ from Toksvig’s office and snipping off her hair all around the edges, leaving an unruly haircut unbefitting of her position.  Precisely the effect she’d been going for.

She next emptied her black overcoat of all the bone charms she’d sewn into the lining, cutting open the seams and pulling them out.  The inside of her white coat was modified for this very purpose, though pockets were less secure than actually sewing the charms in.  She suppressed a bitter snort; when she’d done so to her black coat, she’d been under the impression that she would actually be sticking around.

Even as she sheathed her knife and secured her wrist bow on her arm, she heard shuffling noises from the door.  She froze,  _ knowing  _ that she hadn’t made any noise in her preparations, and yet when she turned the moonlight from the window silhouetted Emily in the doorway.  The shuffling noise had likely been deliberate on Emily’s part, so that Billie wouldn’t be startled.

They stared at one another, the silence of the night and the weight of what Billie was doing hanging between them.

Emily was the first to speak, taking a few steps further into the room.  She looked Billie up and down, no doubt surprised at the first glimpse of Meagan Foster she’d seen since Billie agreed to become the Royal Protector.

“A blast from the past,” Emily murmured.  “It’s a little odd, like... you’re wearing someone else’s skin, even though I  _ know  _ it’s still you.”

Billie gestured to herself.  “I’m going to try to keep a low profile.  For as long as I can.”

“Down in Karnaca, you mean?”

Knowing that Billie was awake and preparing to leave was one thing.  Knowing her destination was another; Billie hadn’t breathed a word about it to anyone.  She didn’t bother to hide her disbelief as she stared at Emily.

Emily shrugged.  “It’s the only place that makes sense.  Dr. Hypatia is still the Isles’ most renowned natural philosopher, so right now she’s your best bet in figuring this whole thing out.  And... her memories of Grim Alex, if she has them back, might have some answers about the Void.”

Emily hit the nail on the head, as she often did.  These days, her intuition was such that she almost didn’t seem to need a Spymaster - though Corvo always caught things that Emily didn’t.  

“Figured it was worth a shot,” Billie said.  “And that the rest of the Empire didn’t need to know about it.”

“I understand that.”  There was an undercurrent of frustration in Emily’s voice as she took another step forward.  “What I can’t understand is why you felt the need to leave without saying goodbye.  Did you really think that I wouldn’t let you go?”

_ I don’t know.  I can’t let  _ you  _ go.   _

Because that was the whole reason Billie was doing this, wasn’t she?  Not for the good of the Empire, or because it was her duty as Royal Protector, but because she needed to find a way to fix whatever was happening to her.  There was always the risk that she was putting either herself or Emily in danger by leaving, and then she would lose the life she’d built here, but if she did nothing then losing it was a guarantee.  

She couldn’t lose it.  She was  _ not  _ about to lose it.

“No,” Billie said.  “But I don’t know if I could leave.”

Emily’s mouth formed the shape of an ‘O’, and she shook her head a few times before taking the last few steps forward and throwing her arms around Billie.  Billie hugged her back, bunching Emily’s nightshirt in her fists.

“ _ Void _ , I would go with you in a heartbeat,” Emily whispered.

Billie swallowed.  “We talked about this,” she croaked.

“I know.  Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

Billie pulled back, and, unable to resist, pressed her forehead against Emily’s.  Emily was the one who leaned down to kiss her, coaxing Billie’s mouth open.  Billie let herself get lost in the sensation for a moment, absently reaching up to stroke Emily’s cheek with her thumb while they kissed, before they pulled away.  

Billie was wishing that she could memorize Emily like this when an idea struck her.

“Ten o’clock, every night, starting after I send you a letter from Karnaca,” Billie said.  Emily cocked her head to the side.  “Use the scrying ability.  I... you won’t be able to talk to me, but I can talk to you.  I can tell you about how things are going, and just... it’ll be nice to be able to know you’re with me, somehow.  Please?”

“Are you sure?”

Billie nodded.  

“Okay,” Emily said.  She pressed another kiss to corner of Billie’s mouth.  “And if you need my help, or if you think it’s... not going to work out, then  _ tell me _ .  Empire be damned, I’ll come down there.  I’ll make some excuse.”

“All right,” Billie admitted, though it made it that much harder.  “You’ve got a deal.”

They were both shaking now, and Billie knew that she was seconds away from giving up on her idea and staying in Dunwall.  She forced herself to take a step back so that she was out of Emily’s reach.  She swallowed, feeling tears burn in her eyes for the first time in years.

“I love you,” she said.

Emily closed her eyes, and took a deep breath.  When she opened them again, there was a fiery determination in them that Billie recognized, like Emily thought she could make Billie succeed through sheer will.  Incredibly, Billie felt bolstered by that fire, and felt her own determination begin to stir.  

“I love you too,” Emily replied.  “Come back to me.”

“I will,” Billie said.  She shoved aside her own doubt.  “I  _ will _ .”

Emily smiled.  “I believe you.”

And that... somehow, that gave Billie enough strength to climb out of the window and begin the process of scaling Dunwall Tower, down towards the docks, somehow feeling Emily’s gaze boring into her back the entire time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See the angst tag? It only gets worse from here.


	4. Part III

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not getting anywhere with the chapter after this one at the moment, so I'm posting this now instead of later. Hypatia comes into the picture here.

When Billie had first traveled to Karnaca, fifteen years ago, she’d arrived in the city and thought,  _ I’m never going back to Void-damned Dunwall.   _ And yet one day she found herself bound for that very city, intending to warn Corvo of Delilah’s plot against the throne.  The irony had not been lost on her at the time.

Now, that irony was doubled.  After Billie had made the decision to accept Emily’s offer of being her Royal Protector, she had said a mental farewell to Karnaca.  Though the city was said to be on the mend because of the Council of Citizens that ran it, Billie hadn’t had a lot of love for the Jewel of the South, especially after what happened to Anton.  Once again, however, she was on a ship bound for a place that she’d promised she would never return to.

Her best bet would be to stop making assumptions about her future.  They never seemed to work out.

A fog had settled over Karnaca that morning - unusual for the warmer, southern city, but it was still early, and Billie was one of the only passengers awake.  She’d gone above deck to break her fast, chewing on stale bread and an apple as she watched the gray waves below.  There wasn’t much else to look at, but the reminder of her days as a ship captain settled her worry.

The captain - a man named Malcolm, who owed her a favor from the Bad Old Days - came over at one point to let her know that they’d be making port in about an hour.  Billie just nodded in response, not bothering to look at him.  He’d shuffled his feet for a few moments before giving up on an audible acknowledgement, and left her to her own devices.  The rest of the crew gave her a wide berth, though she didn’t know whether that was because she was she was the Royal Protector or because she was just intimidating.

By the time the ship was docked, the sun had burned through the fog.  Dockworkers scrambled to help get the ship tied down, and Billie slipped off during the chaos after leaving her fee with the captain.  The change to Karnaca since she and Emily left was palpable; the people walked with their heads held high, and the Grand Guard seemed to be polite and friendly.

Of course, it would be irresponsible to assume that  _ everything  _ was better, and Billie still noticed many condemned buildings due to bloodfly infestations.  She had no doubt that the Karnacans were waiting until the winter months to really go in and clean them up, but for now they stood, abandoned.  There were still sometimes beggars lurking in alleyways, but overall things seemed improved.

Clearly the city council was doing its job.  One less thing for them to worry about back in Dunwall.

Billie made her way to Addermire Station, giving a polite nod to the Grand Guardsmen who appeared to be restricting the traffic to the institute.  They nodded back, not appearing to recognize her as the Royal Protector, which suited Billie just fine.  

She rode in the carriage with one other passenger - a boy, whose hair was long enough that he kept it back in a ponytail.  He coughed every so often, so Billie guessed that he’d faked his age in order to work in the mines - something that occurred often back when Abele was in power, and happened less so now.

Billie could feel his gaze boring into her, even though she avoided making eye contact with him.  As they arrived at the institute, she made to stand, only to find his outstretched hand in her face.

“I’m Matthew,” he said.  Billie leaned back a bit, but raised an eyebrow and shook his hand.  “Aren’t you supposed to be in Dunwall?”

“Why would anyone wanna be there, kid?”

He gave her a toothy grin, then hopped out of the carriage, waving.  “Right, right.  Well whatever it is, Lady Protector, I didn’t do it.”

Billie snorted.  

Addermire was no longer crawling with the Grand Guard.  The interior and exterior had been refurbished, and the institute was now bustling with nurses and patients alike.  The boy entered ahead of her, speaking to the nurse at the welcome desk before the nurse directed him towards one of the wings of the institute.  Billie approached next, careful to slouch and keep her hands in her pockets.

The lack of a double-take by the nurse told her that she’d done her job right.  “Good day, miss.  What can I do for you?”

“I need to see Dr. Hypatia.”

His cordial smile dimmed, and Billie’s heart sank.  “Oh.  That’s... um... I’m sorry, but Dr. Hypatia no longer works at the Institute.”

That startled Billie.  “What?”

“Yes, she... she resigned her commission here, left Dr. Sinesturo in charge.  It was a surprise for all of us, believe me, and we’ve tried to keep it quiet.  We think it’s on account of her job as one of the council members, you see - the commute gets to be a bit much when you’re traveling from Addermire to the Grand Palace.”

A bald-faced lie if Billie had ever heard one, but she wasn’t interested in whatever speculation the staff had about Hypatia’s reasons for leaving.  “Do you know where she is now?”

The nurse shook his head.  “I’ve heard a rumor that she lives in the Batista District, now, but I only heard it once.  I think the doctor’s been keeping a low profile for now.  She doesn’t make public appearances with the rest of the council.”

It was her best bet.  The Batista District wasn’t too far, but it was far enough to be a pain to get to in one afternoon.  Billie thanked the nurse and headed straight back to the carriage, wondering if she was the only person who had come looking for Hypatia and been forced to turn back - and why Hypatia had decided to leave in the first place.

It was certainly a puzzle.  During her last few days aboard the Dreadful Wale, Hypatia had seemed optimistic about her future, and eager to get back to her work.  Addermire had always been the optimal place for her, she’d said - good equipment, good staff, peace and quiet.  Billie couldn’t imagine what would have caused Hypatia to turn away from that.

Well, no, that was a lie - she could easily imagine.  Likely Hypatia’s memories of being the Crown Killer had caught up with her, and she couldn’t stand being in the place where her alter ego had committed so many atrocities.  That, or the isolation had been too much for her.  There was a number of reasons why Hypatia might want to leave.  

“The commute’s too long my ass,” Billie muttered as she climbed back into the carriage.  Yet another mystery to solve.

* * *

 

Even now, a sense of unease hung in the air of the Batista District.  Though Stilton had done his best to keep the rivalry between Paolo and Byrne to a minimum, there was still tension between the two sides, and they clearly still kept to their respective bases.  Billie was careful not to stray into the territory of either one, unwilling to be scrutinized by either the Howlers or the Overseers.

The whispers started again as she neared Stilton’s manor, and she grimaced as the pain started in her eye and arm again.  She glanced at the entrance, and took a few steps back, noticing that the intensity of the whispers lessened when she did so.

“That’s new,” she muttered.  

She braced herself for another hallucination, but when none appeared to be forthcoming, she carefully skirted the entrance, relieved when the whispers receded entirely as she left Stilton’s manor behind.  She received some odd looks for her behavior, which she ignored while she kept moving, entering the underground part of the district.

The underground was where the black market shop was located, and was therefore Billie’s best bet at getting information.  The shop was open, but its proprietor appeared to have fallen asleep, her head resting on her forearms.

Billie rapped her knuckles sharply on the counter, causing the woman’s head to snap up.  

“What?” she barked, but she deflated when she saw Billie.  “Oh, a customer.  Sorry, business has been slow today.  See anything you like?”

She gestured to her displays, but her eyes widened when Billie set a sizeable coin purse in front of her.

“I want to know where Alexandria Hypatia lives,” she said.

The shopkeeper blinked.  “What, the physician?”  At Billie’s nod, the woman rolled her eyes.  “Well, you didn’t have to dump  _ that  _ in front of me to find that out.  Ah-ah!” she added, pulling the purse away when Billie reached for it.  “Too late.  Don’t worry, I’ll throw in something extra for this much coin.”

Billie shrugged, somewhat disturbed by how little the loss of the money bothered her.   _ Guess living in the Tower really has changed me.   _ “Yeah?  What’s that?”

The woman grinned.  “Your pick of my stock.  You only get one, but I’ve got some good stuff.”

“Information first, bonus later.”

“You got it.”  The shopkeeper affected a lazy drawl, studying her fingernails.  “Hypatia lives around here, now, comes by sometimes to say hi.  Nice lady.  No idea how she’s survived this long, considering the way Karnaca used to be, but I guess it’s nice to be sequestered in a lab in the middle of the ocean - “

“I didn’t pay you for your opinion,” Billie interrupted, folding her arms.  “Where is she?”

The shopkeeper rolled her eyes.  “Geez, you in a hurry or something?”

Billie didn’t bother to respond.  She shifted her stance slightly so that the knife sheathed at her hip became clearly visible.  The shopkeeper’s eyes traveled down to it, and her shit-eating grin faltered.

“Guess that answers  _ my  _ question,” she muttered.  “She’s staying with Lucia Pastor.  You know where that is?”

“Yeah.”  Not necessarily a lie, but Billie wasn’t sure if Pastor had moved since she’d last been here.  She pointed at the bone charm that the shopkeeper had on display, easily able to hear the whispers of the Void.  “How attached are you to that?”

Billie left the shop a few minutes later, with a new bone charm tucked into her coat and feeling like she might actually be getting somewhere for once.  

As she was heading back through the Dust District (Lucia Pastor lived on the edge, near an overlook onto the Cyria Gardens), Billie blinked once, and found herself in a place half-buried in silver.  No one appeared to be around, but she had a sense that she was being watched.  Another blink, and the image faded.

She shook her head.  Her visions had been curiously absent during her journey to Karnaca, and even her first few hours of being here, but it seemed they were starting up again.  She didn’t want to know why it had seemed like she was staring at a Batista District (“Dust District”, her mind whispered) where the world had ended, and hopefully, with Hypatia’s help, she would never find out.

She passed a group of Howlers on her way, standing in a circle and trading a cigar between the three of them.  None of them appeared to take any notice of her - Aramis’ influence had ensured that their attempts at a turf war with the Overseers were for naught - but Billie knew that they were aware of her, as surely as she was aware of them.  She reminded herself not to pique their interest while she was here.  The less attention she drew while she was here, the better.

Billie breathed a sigh of relief when she arrived at the Miner’s Guild building.  There seemed to be a hubbub of activity, with miners or family members of miners coming and going.  The sign out front still had Lucia Pastor’s name on it, so Billie guessed that Pastor still lived in the apartment above the Guild’s headquarters.  She slipped inside, grateful that no one gave her a second look.

Raised voices in the backroom told Billie that Pastor was arguing with someone, so she took the opportunity to head for the stairs.  The second floor was deserted in comparison with the first, with no one on the landing.  Apparently Hypatia’s move wasn’t well-known, or she’d likely have a line of patients waiting for her up here.

There was only one door, so Billie knocked on that with three quick raps.  Her enhanced hearing picked up shuffling footsteps on the other side, before the door opened and revealed a disheveled Alexandria Hypatia.

“I’m sorry, I’m not - “

She froze, apparently realizing exactly who stood on her doorstep, then stepped back.  “Lady Foster!  Goodness, you startled me.  I - I didn’t realize that you’d be here, or I’d have tidied up before - forgive me, I - how are you?”

Billie smiled, in spite of herself.  “Slow down, Dr. Hypatia.  I would’ve sent word ahead of time, but I wanted to keep this low-profile.  I’m sure you can understand.”

The nervous energy seemed to seep out of Hypatia as she sighed and shook her head.  “Oh, I can.  Please, come in.”

Hypatia and Pastor’s shared apartment was both immaculate and chaotic.  Billie had gotten the impression that Hypatia was a cleanly person before being put under the influence of the serum, but judging by the sheets of paper scattered everywhere and the room off to the side of the living room, Hypatia hadn’t been doing the best job with upkeep.  She only caught a glimpse of the room (which she guessed was Hypatia’s makeshift lab) before Hypatia hurried to the door and closed it.  The doctor then gestured for Billie to sit on the couch, on the small space that wasn’t covered in books, before she went into the kitchen.  

“Did you want something to drink?” Hypatia said.

“No, thank you.”

Billie heard more than saw Hypatia falter, before she came back out of the kitchen looking like she didn’t know what to do with herself.  Billie jerked her head over towards the armchair in the corner of the room, and Hypatia sank into it, twisting her hands together.

“You never told me how you’re doing,” Hypatia said.

“Not great,” Billie admitted, aware that lying wouldn’t be a good start to this conversation.  “I came here because I need your help.  You’re the only person I could think of who might have a clue.”

Hypatia frowned.  “Of course I’ll help, but you should know that I’m not as well-equipped here as I was at Addermire.”

It was on the tip of Billie’s tongue to ask Hypatia why she’d left Addermire in the first place, but she knew that it was none of her business.  “That’s fine.  To be honest, I’m not sure if this is something you can fix in a lab.”

“That sounds very dire.”

“It might be.  I’m not sure.”

“Well...”  Hypatia straightened in her chair, her gaze keen as she looked at Billie.  “Why don’t you explain your symptoms to me, I’ll give you my initial assessment, and if I think there’s something I can do to help we’ll see where we go from there.  Does that seem acceptable?”

Billie was impressed by how quickly Hypatia had shifted into professionalism.  “Yeah, sounds good.”

She quickly launched into the story, unconcerned about Hypatia’s knowledge of her heresy - the doctor had never shown any reaction at all to Emily’s Mark - beginning with the ritual she’d performed two months ago, and ending with her collapse at the Tower three weeks before.  She explained about the visions, about the whispers of the Void, noticing as she did so that Hypatia’s expression became troubled.  She finished by describing her latest vision: of the Batista District, half-buried in dust.

“That is very unusual,” Hypatia said, after a moment of silence.  “Ordinarily I’d diagnose you with some sort of psychosis - though in that field we know far less than we should - but if you’re sure that it has something to do with the Void, then I believe you.”

“Thank you.”

Hypatia looked down at her hands.  “The Void.  All the research I’ve done seems to indicate that it’s a kind of shadow dimension, existing side-by-side with ours.  It’s always there, but most people don’t see it, and aren’t aware of it.  I don’t understand how it all works, really, but my guess is that something you did - perhaps the ritual - has broken down the barrier between yourself and the Void that most people have.”

Billie raised both eyebrows.  “You’ve studied the Void?”

Hypatia winced, as if she was just now realizing how it all sounded.  “I... confess to looking into it, after I first met Breanna Ashworth.  She said something about it that interested me, so I began a side-project about it.  I’m someone who believes that we should further our understanding of the unknown through science, instead of cowering away from it in fear, as the Overseers do.”

“Let’s maybe save the debate on the Abbey versus the Academy for another time,” Billie said.  “You think you can find out what’s happening to me?  Most of the people who know about the Void are witches.”

“It would certainly be a welcome diversion.  I’m not getting anywhere with my current project.”  Hypatia froze, her eyes growing wide.  “Not that I’m - of course, what’s happening to you cannot be classified as a mere  _ diversion _ , Lady Foster - “

Billie raised a hand, cutting her off.  “It’s alright, Dr. Hypatia.  I know what you mean.”

“Alright, well - good.”  Hypatia still looked embarrassed, but she cleared her throat and said, “It would help me if you could tell me everything that you know about the Void, as well.  Even if it’s only a little bit, it might be useful.  We can discuss it over dinner, if you’d like to join Lucia and I?”

“Sure,” Billie replied.  “If it’s not too much trouble.  I can cook.”

“You’re my guest, I couldn’t possibly ask you to - “

“She will if she wants to survive,” came a voice from the door.  “You know you can’t cook for shit, Alexandria.”

Lucia Pastor stood in the doorway, looking both exhausted and about ready to tear someone’s eyeballs out.  She made her way into the kitchen and put the kettle on, before shoving several books off the sofa to make room for herself.  Billie noted the shadows beneath her eyes and the wrinkles around her mouth; being in charge of the Miners’ Guild was clearly taking its toll.

Hypatia looked mildly offended.  “I  _ did  _ live by myself for a few years, you know.”

“Yes, and it’s a wonder you survived.”  Lucia nodded at Billie.  “Nice to see you again, Captain.  Or is it Lady Foster now?  Congrats on the job.  Doesn’t a part of it involve staying at the Empress’ side, though?”

“Usually,” Billie answered, but said nothing further.

Pastor snorted.  “After everything that happened here last year, I was surprised that the Empress even needed another Royal Protector.  She seems like she’s capable of taking care of herself.”

Billie was tempted to make a remark on Emily’s occasional lack of self-preservation instinct, but decided that that was a secret best kept to herself.  

“I’ll be back in a little while,” she said, standing.  “I need to run a couple errands, and pick up ingredients from the market, but I’ll be back to make dinner soon.  It was nice to see you both again.”

“Likewise,” Dr. Hypatia said.  Pastor nodded in agreement.  

“I just hope that you haven’t brought trouble to our doorstep,” Pastor said, her tone only half-joking.  

Billie laughed as she went out the door, but as soon as it clicked shut behind her she murmured, “So do I.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Headcanon that Lucia Pastor needs to be very sassy to stay ahead of the upper class fighting to bring her down.


	5. Part IV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enter Daud. Also this is the chapter where Shit Starts To Happen.

Billie awoke to a dull throbbing in her head.  

It was still dark outside, and the lamp on the bedside table had gone out, so it was likely early morning.  She put a hand to her forehead, wincing as she sat up; the throbbing only intensified.  The sense of wrongness that she always had made her chest tighten, and for a moment it was difficult to breathe.

She forced her muscles to relax, and the discomfort receded somewhat.  

The inn only had the one room available, and there was barely enough space in it for her to stumble around in the dark, looking for the set of matches she’d been given by the innkeeper to light the lamp.  Once she had the lamp lit, she found herself staring down at the unfinished letter on her bedside table.

It was short and concise - nothing that would give away her relationship with Emily, or her true purpose in Karnaca.  Which was precisely what bothered her.  She had no way of letting Emily know how much she meant to her.  It was selfish of her to want that, but she’d been getting more selfish lately.  

Emily wouldn’t have hesitated.  She’d have hidden some message in the letter, for only Billie to find.  Billie, as it was, could only sign the letter quickly and roll it up, tying it off.  She checked the light outside, noticing the faintest signs of dawn coming over the rooftops.

Too early to go to the post office, but there was no way she was going back to sleep.  Billie settled for venturing outdoors anyway, shoving her hands into her pockets and affecting a slouch.  Not many people were out and about this early, apart from fishermen, and she wasn’t anywhere near the docks.  

She’d had a few too many glasses of brandy at Lucia’s the previous evening, coaxed into relaxing by the banter between Alexandria and Lucia and by the fact that she didn’t need to be watching Emily for signs of poison.  It was a bit strange, to go back to having casual dinners with friends (the occasions when she, Emily and Corvo got to take meals together didn’t count, as they often ended up discussing business anyway), and she’d become comfortable far too quickly.

The end result was that she’d gotten more than a bit tipsy, entertained by Lucia’s anecdotes about dealing with the investors in the mines, and now had the resulting headache.  It was nothing that a strong pot of coffee wouldn’t fix, but she wasn’t about to intrude on the kitchens of the inn just for caffeine.

The walk did something for her headache, but it didn’t do much to clear her head of her thoughts.  She missed Emily, like an ache in her gut.  Hell, she missed Corvo, and they were still at the ‘tentative acquaintance’ stage.  She felt on-edge being here, without Emily, after growing so used to watching her back.  

She founds herself back at the Batista District overlook, watching the sun rise on her left.  The whispers tickled at the back of her mind, as they always seemed to do whenever she found herself near Stilton’s manor, but she didn’t try to fight them this time.  It was quiet enough that, for once, she didn’t feel like she was on the verge of losing herself in the Void.   

Then the sun rose fully, breaking her trance, and she couldn’t get away fast enough.

She made her way to the post office, slipping her letter to the woman and ignoring the wide-eyed look she received when the post officer realized who she was.  She then headed over to Lucia and Alexandria’s apartment; she and Alexandria had agreed to meet that morning to go over what had happened to her in more detail.  She wasn’t feeling all that optimistic about solving the problem immediately, but she was grateful to Hypatia for being willing to try.  

She had to cross through Howler territory in order to get back to Lucia’s place, and this time she did not go unnoticed.

“Hey!  Captain!”

Billie paused, grimacing at how quickly she was recognized.  She relaxed a bit when she saw who was waving her over, shoving her hands in her pockets and keeping her gait deliberately relaxed.  No need to let others know that being recognized had put her on edge.

“Morning Blanchard,” she said, shaking her head when Mindy offered her her cigar.

“Fancy seeing you here,” Mindy said, taking a long drag from it.  “Heard you were protecting her majesty up in Dunwall, although Paolo didn’t believe it was really you until the photographs started showing up in the newspapers.  You looked good in that fancy coat; didn’t wanna bring it with you?”

It was Mindy’s way of asking Billie what she was doing there.  

“It’s not really meant for low-profile jobs,” Billie admitted.  “How about you?  Parlor business good?”

“Business is booming,” Mindy said.  “People are actually starting to come by now that Stilton has the Overseers on more of a leash.  And, y’know, Paolo’s got me helping out at the bar.  He’s probably got a few jobs that need doing, if you’re looking to make a little coin on the side.”

“Thanks for the offer,” Billie said, “I’ve got business elsewhere, though.  It was nice catching up, Mindy.”

“Yeah,” Mindy replied, seeming unperturbed by the dismissal.  “See you around, Royal Protector.”

The sun was well overhead by the time Billie arrived at Lucia and Alexandria’s apartment, and when Alexandria opened the door and stepped aside to let her in, she noticed that Lucia had already left for the day. 

“She’s gone to the mines,” Hypatia explained.  “She goes often, to get a sense of what conditions are like at the moment.  Sometimes she’ll bring me along to assess the workers’ health, but of course I stayed behind this time.  Come, sit down.  I made a pot of tea, if you’d like some.”

“Thanks,” Billie said, sitting on one of the chair while Hypatia poured her a mug.  She accepted it gratefully, the brew soothing the remnants of her headache.  Alexandria took a seat on the sofa, folding her hands in her lap, and Billie had the distinct impression that she was about to be psychoanalyzed.  

“Now,” said Hypatia.  “Start from - “

“ - the beginning.”

Nausea, pushing bile into her throat, and the whispers of the Void in her ears, deafening her.  She felt like she was tilting to one side, and threw out a hand for balance, only to realize that something was wrong with her arm.  The sensations vanished as quickly as they came, leaving her standing there, bewildered.

She hadn’t been standing, a moment ago.

Billie could feel the Void within her, surging up, trying to force her to take more of it.  She forced it down, a snarl on her face -  _ I’ve had to deal with this for too fucking long _ \- before she realized that she was wearing a bright red jacket instead of her customary white one, and that her left hand was gripping a blade much like the one she’d carried while she was in Daud’s employ.

“Billie?”

The familiar voice filled her with both joy and dread, though she was quick to question herself why.  She’d been the one to find him, hadn’t she?  She’d sought him out, after so many years - one of the only people she had left in this world.  Anton was long gone, and she’d been alone for a few agonizing weeks, and then - 

“Daud,” she said.  

_ No, wait,  _ her mind whispered.  Daud had been missing for years, and though Billie had put out feelers for him, she’d never found a trace of him.  Even asking Corvo if he knew about his whereabouts had proven fruitless, and she had eventually been forced to give up on the idea entirely.

But that wasn’t right either.

She opened her mouth, then closed it again.  The man himself was in front of her, now, frowning at her.  It took her a moment to realize that that look wasn’t one of disapproval, but rather one of concern.

“It’s happened again, isn’t it?” he asked.

“Happening,” she corrected automatically.  She could trust him - she hadn’t seen him in fifteen years - he had been the one to get them off that damn boat alive, even if Billie was the one who rescued him first - it had been too long, and she betrayed him - 

“What is it?” he demanded.  “What are you seeing?”

“I’m not  _ seeing  _ anything,” she snapped, instantly feeling remorse when he took a step back, raising both hands in a gesture of surrender.  She took a deep breath, sheathing the blade she held, and shook her head.  “I... I’m... this doesn’t make any sense.”

“Talk to me.”

What could she say?  That there was no way Daud could be here, but that she also remembered rescuing him?  That the emotions she felt were a mixture of fondness and dread, and she didn’t know which one would win out?

Billie settled for shaking her head, falling back on the technique that Daud had taught her (and that she’d been employing often lately) and breathing in deeply, counting each breath.  Daud seemed to realize what she was doing, and waited in silence for her to finish.  When she finally felt like she had her racing heart under control, she exhaled and took in her surroundings.

The Dreadful Wale.

Billie turned in a full circle.  The galley was as she remembered it, fully stocked and lit with the orange glow of lanterns.  Daud was standing by the board - where she had pinned up Emily’s targets, and while one part of her felt at home with him there, another part wished that Emily was with her instead.

“You good?” he asked.

“No.”

“You gonna tell me or not?”

“Yes,” Billie snapped, followed by, “No.  How the fuck did you end up in a prison?  I thought you were keeping a low profile down here.”

Daud raised an eyebrow.  “You already know this story.”

“Humor me.”

He shrugged, but began anyway.  As it turned out, he  _ was  _ telling her something she already knew - but last time she checked, Daud hadn’t been seen from or heard from by anyone, so her confusion was justified in her mind.

“I started looking into the new underground prison, up in the mountains,” he said.  “Got caught.  I’m not as young as I once was.”

“You got caught,” Billie stated flatly.

“Yes.”

“Bullshit.”

Daud rolled his eyes.  “You had to rescue me, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, and?”  When Daud didn’t answer, Billie started pacing up and down the galley.  “So they had you handcuffed in a solitary cell.  Big deal.  You’ve gotten out of worse cages before.  What made this one different?”

“Nothing,” Daud said.  His voice softened.  “I wouldn’t lie to you, Billie.  I really just... they got me good.  They had music box traps.  They were prepared for someone like me.”

It was true that he’d never lied to her, but a part of Billie didn’t want to believe him anyway.  She didn’t want to believe that any of this was really happening, not when she was speaking to Hypatia only a few minutes ago.  She continued her agitated pacing, refusing to meet Daud’s concerned gaze.

“Talk to me,” he said again.  It sounded like more of a plea, this time.

The part of her that remembered rescuing him (remembered the throats she slit along the way, the lives she remorselessly took) won out, this time.  

“It... doesn’t make sense,” she said slowly.  “This is going to sound crazy, but a few minutes ago I was talking to Alexandria Hypatia.  You know, the alchemist?”

Daud’s eyebrows shot up.  “Hypatia?  Billie, she’s in prison.  Pending execution for her crimes as the Crown Killer.”

“ _ What _ ?”

But Billie had been there when the announcement rang out through the loudspeakers - had even been a witness, earlier on, to the four Grand Guard soldiers who escorted Dr. Hypatia from the Addermire carriage station.  The alchemist had had her head bowed, and she seemed to drag her feet with each step.

“That - no,” Billie said.  “I was just talking to her - she’s fine, she’s living with Lucia Pastor - “

“Pastor’s dead,” Daud interrupted.  “Executed for treason.”

“That doesn’t make any  _ sense  _ \- “

“Keep telling me what you’ve seen,” he said.  “Maybe we’ll be able to make sense of it if we put our heads together.”

So, in bits and pieces, Billie told him everything she could about her circumstances before she’d found herself back on the Dreadful Wale (the boat she  _ sold _ , over a year ago now).  She explained about her visions, and how she sought out Hypatia for help, and how she’d learned that Hypatia was living in the Batista District.  She even mentioned that she had a normal right arm and eye, but  she decided against mentioning that she was Emily’s Royal Protector, since wherever she was now, that was clearly not the case.

“The Batista District now goes by its more colorful moniker,” Daud said.  “The Dust District.  Almost no one lives there unless they’re desperate, or they’re the remnants of the Howlers and Karnacan Overseers.  That’s also one of the areas of the city where the bloodfly infestation has gotten worse than ever.”

“And Hypatia?” Billie asked.  “Why was she arrested?”

Daud bared his teeth in some twisted semblance of a grin.  “Our  _ esteemed Empress _ declared that Hypatia was the one responsible not only for the murders in Dunwall, but those that happened in Karnaca as well.  She’s using Hypatia as a scapegoat, showing everyone how she intends to see justice done by having her executed.  As if we need more of her particular brand of ‘justice’.”

Billie made a face.  So, it wasn’t enough that Hypatia was in prison and Lucia Pastor was dead - this was a world where Delilah had won.  Just her luck.

“From what I can tell,” Daud said, “It’s like you’ve been glimpsing another world.  One like ours, but with some differences.  Hypatia is free, Pastor is alive, the Batista District isn’t in ruins.  What I don’t understand is why this only seems to be affecting you, and no one else.”

“Believe me,” Billie sighed.  “It’s a mystery to me as much as it is to you.”

She made her way over to one of the chairs next to the table, sinking down into it.  She leaned her head back until it hit the back of the chair, releasing a long sigh.  The familiar sounds of her ship made the tension in her muscles loosen.  

Billie hadn’t believed that she would miss the Dreadful Wale after she sold it, yet here she was.

Daud’s voice kept her from dozing off.  “We need to figure out what to do next.”

Billie blinked her eyes open, lifting her head.  “‘We’?  I got you out of prison.  I thought you’d just want to go back into hiding.”

Daud scowled.  “I’m not sitting idly by, Billie, and I suspect you’re not either.  Whatever’s wrong with you, I’m not going to be able to go back into retirement until it’s resolved.  I don’t like the idea of leaving you alone like this.”

Billie laughed.  “Appreciate the concern, old man, but you can’t keep up with me.”

“Yeah, yeah, rub it in, why don’t you,” he muttered.  “I may not be able to keep up with you, but I do know most of the layout for the underground prison, where Hypatia’s being held.  You said that she was willing to help you before, right?  Maybe she’ll be willing to help you here.”

“Didn’t I just  _ finish  _ a prison break?”

Daud chuckled.  “Well, now that you’ve gotten one under your belt, you should be all ready to go for the next one.  Unless you think this ‘old man’ can do better.”

Billie snorted.  “Not on your life, Daud.  But at least let me get some sleep first.  It’s been a long day.”

* * *

 

Officially, the prison was called Slate Heights Prison.  Unofficially, the residents of Karnaca called it ‘hell’.  

The only way in or out of the prison was by using a small elevator, which could fit three people at most (usually one prisoner and two guards).  Once the elevator made its descent, a hypothetical visitor would see the Grand Guard watchman who operated the elevator, followed by the heavily-fortified door to the central control room.  Beyond that, the natural caves had been modified into cells, each of which received very little light (and none of it natural).  

Also connected to the entrance area were the administrative offices, where the warden and the higher-ranking officials worked.

Daud had been on one of the prison ships that floated near Karnaca, but he had been scheduled to be transported to Slate Heights.  Before he was apprehended by the authorities, he’d found out that each cell was now operated electronically, rather than by key, from the main control room.

The problem was that not only were the prisoners’ cells locked from the main control room, but that each prisoner was also chained to the back of their cell, and the shackles could only be unlocked from a secondary control room that was at the back of the prison.  Which meant that Billie had to not only find out which cell Hypatia was in, but that she also had to decide which would be safer: to unlock the shackles first, and risk the guards realizing it, or unlock the door first, only for Hypatia to not be able to escape.

She glared down at the helmeted heads of the two Grand Guard soldiers in the elevator entrance, wondering if this was how Emily felt whenever she went on one of her excursions during her time bringing down Delilah’s coup.

That was another problem about this world altogether: she could remember most recent events, but anything before that was a bit... less clear.  She couldn’t remember if she brought Emily to Karnaca for the purposes of taking down Delilah; she had a vague sense that she had, but she couldn’t remember what the outcome had been (most likely Emily’s death).  Her time as a Whaler was also murky, though her years as a ship captain were clear as day.

The doors to the elevator opened with a ‘ding’, letting out three guards, and Billie reached out with her right arm, and slid a marker into the elevator.  As soon as the doors closed (with no one inside, luckily) she closed her eyes and reached for the Void.  The sensation was strange, like she was stepping into another layer of skin, but it vanished as soon as she opened her eyes.

And then there was  _ that _ .

Discovering that she now had an arm assembled from pieces of the Void had been... a bit of a shock.  She’d attempted to use Far Reach or Shadow Walk, abilities that she’d gained through her Arcane Bond with Emily, to no avail, and had instead needed a crash course with her newfound abilities.  Daud had been able to somewhat help her through it, though he could only tell her what each was like through an outsider’s perspective.

Displace was by far the most useful.  A part of her wished that Emily were here, if only so that she could gloat about being able to teleport through walls.

The elevator sank down into the mountain slowly, occasionally rattling and groaning.  Billie waited until it started to slow down before she opened the hatch and pulled herself through it so that she was on top of the elevator.  When the doors opened, revealing two more guards who were likely heading home for the day, Billie set another marker just behind them, waited until the doors were closed, and then called upon the Void again.

Thankfully, there weren’t any other guards present, and she was able to sleep-dart the one controlling the elevator before he had time to react.  For a brief moment, she wondered why she hadn’t just killed him, before berating herself for the thought.  Not everyone deserved death.

She dragged his body over to one of the locker sets on the other side of the room, and somehow managed to shoved it inside one.  Then she took a deep breath, using Semblance to take his face for her own.

That ability made her skin crawl, but it let her walk past the guards in the different cell blocks without being noticed.

Thus, Billie began her methodical search for Alexandria Hypatia.  She started with cell block A, before moving on to B, then C.  There were six cell blocks in total, and she only needed to drink a few gulps of the Addermire solution she had with her to keep the Semblance up.  No one who saw her questioned her.

It was in Cell Block E that she finally struck gold.  In one of the larger cells, chained to the back wall like every other prisoner, was a woman with greasy hair and gray eyes.  Billie sucked in a breath at the sight of her; she was nearly unrecognizable like this, but upon a closer look, she could see that it was definitely Hypatia.

She glanced up and down the cell block before canceling her Semblance.

“Dr. Hypatia?” she called.

The prisoner’s head snapped up, and Billie nearly took a step back at the hopelessness in her eyes.

“Captain Foster?”  The doctor’s normally-gentle voice was roughened by her time in prison, and Billie could see that her fingernails were chewed to the quick.  “What - how can you be here?  I don’t understand - the last time we spoke - “

“Whatever I said to you before, pretend that I didn’t,” Billie interrupted, unsure of what Hypatia was referring to.  “I’m getting you out of here.  Are you strong enough to walk?”

Hypatia gaped at her openly for a few seconds, before she closed her mouth and nodded.  “Yes, I can walk.  Though I’m a bit chained down at the moment, I’m afraid.  You really shouldn’t have come, though - I’m scheduled for execution tomorrow - “

“All the more reason to get you out of here.”  Billie paused, and when Hypatia didn’t protest again, she kept going.  “Listen, I’m going to head to the secondary control room and unlock your shackles first.  I need you to keep wearing them, so that any guards that come by are fooled into thinking you’re still chained.  Give me about ten minutes or so after that, and then I’ll have the door open.  Once the door’s open, I’ll need you to make your way to the doorway between cell block D and E.”

Hypatia frowned.  “Won’t the guards just notice my door being open, and keep an eye out for me?”

Billie smirked.  “Trust me, they’ll be busy.  Remember, as soon as the door opens, get going.  We clear?”

Hypatia nodded again, and Billie hurried away.  She just needed to get through cell block F, and she managed to slip past the guards at the E to F entrance by using Displace.  Once she got to the secondary control room, she found herself with one guard who was the operator.  She repeated her previous trick, first knocking him out and then stealing his face.

Billie deactivated the shackles in Hypatia’s room first, then quickly deactivated the shackles in every cell in block A.  She then sprinted out of the room, still wearing the face of the operator, and ran towards the two very startled guards at the E to F entrance.

“The shackle controls malfunctioned!” she cried.  “Everyone in block A’s unshackled.  It’s gotta be a shitstorm in there, they might need back up.”

“Aw, fuck,” one of the guards muttered.  “Not again.  Last time this happened we had to manhandle 20 people back into their cuffs.”

His fellow guardsman clapped him on the back.  “Don’t complain, you like having the chance to rough ‘em up a bit.  Guess it’s a shame that that damn Crown Killer ain’t one of them.”

Billie accompanied the two through the rest of the cell blocks, tightening her mouth when the first guard spat in the direction of Alexandria’s cell.  The other entrances between cell blocks were missing their guards, who had also likely gone to deal with the chaos in cell block A.  As she predicted, the prisoners were reveling in their freedom of movement when they passed through block A themselves.  Billie begged off, saying that she needed to make sure that the main control room wasn’t going to have a similar problem.

The main control room had two guards inside.  She made sure she was behind one, then sleep-darted the other and used Semblance on the first.  After that, it was only a matter of opening the doors to cell block A, and the door to Hypatia’s cell.

“Now for the hard part,” she murmured.

She sprinted quickly enough through block A that no one really seemed to notice her (the Semblance helped).  When she eventually reached the door between D and E, passing by many prisoners who were restless because of the noises coming from cell block A, it was to find Hypatia already waiting there, wringing her hands.

“You should put me back in my cell,” Hypatia pleaded, before Billie even had the chance to say anything.  “I  _ deserve  _ to be there, for the crimes I’ve committed - “

“Those weren’t your fault,” Billie said.  

“If I had been more careful with that serum - “

“ _ Listen _ to me,” snapped Billie.  “I need you to focus and listen to me carefully, or neither one of us is going to get out of here alive tonight.  Can you do that much?”

Hypatia nodded.

“Good.  Now follow me.”

They made their way back through the other cell blocks, unhindered until they got to cell block A.  There, the guards were fighting an all-out war with the prisoners, outnumbered although not outgunned.  The guards had already given up on taking them back alive, and were using their pistols to fell the prisoners as much as they were using blunt force.  Billie scouted what she hoped could be a route through the chaos.  It would have been ideal for her not to be seen as herself during this, but she didn’t have much choice in the matter.

“Hypatia,” she said, “I need you to grab onto my waist.”

Hypatia started; she’d been staring at the fighting, eyes glazed over.  “W-what?  Why?”

“No time for questions.”

“Alright, I... suppose there’s nothing for it.”

Once Hypatia’s arm was wrapped around Billie’s waste, she took a deep breath and set her first marker in one of the nearby prison cells.  At this point, she could feel a familiar adrenaline rush as she displaced herself and Hypatia, the two of them appearing in the cell.  A moment later she aimed for another empty cell further down, and displaced them there, and kept repeating the action.

Somehow - miraculously, she managed to move quickly enough that no one saw her and Alexandria.  The two of them left the fighting behind, jogging towards the elevator, and once Billie had pushed the button to call it from the elevator controls, Hypatia turned to her.

“I don’t really understand why you’re doing this,” she said.  “I... feel as though I deserve to die, yet I’m also afraid to die.  So... I suppose... thank y - “

Her last word died in her throat.

Billie stared, disbelievingly, at the crossbow bolt that had somehow become lodged in Hypatia’s jugular.  The doctor let out a gurgle, blood already streaming from the wound, and when she fell to her knees Billie hurried forward to catch her.  Hypatia’s eyes darted from Billie’s own to something behind her, terror on her face, and then she made a sudden movement, shoving Billie away from her.

This time, the crossbow bolt hit Hypatia in the eye, and she stopped moving.  

Billie swore and dove behind the elevator control panel, just as another bolt shattered against the wall above her head.  She peered out from behind the panel at the person who was silhouetted in the doorway to the administrative offices, expecting the warden or another senior officer, only for her blood to freeze.

“Meagan,” Emily said, her voice as cold as a Tyvian winter.  “Or should I call you Billie Lurk?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mmmmm whatcha saaayyyyyy


	6. Part V

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aftermath time.

Billie reacted before she could really think about it, activating her Foresight and floating out of her body.  It was only a delay tactic - fighting against Emily was inevitable at that point - but she needed a minute.  Or two.  Or five.

Physically, this world’s Emily looked no different from the Emily that Billie loved.  She wore her hair the same way, she still had a black band wrapped around her hand, and she even wore the same blue coat.  The scarf was absent, but Billie had a feeling that that was because Emily was here on official business as opposed to trying to get her throne back.

But there were less obvious differences.  The glint of hatred in Emily’s eyes.  The arm lifted in the action of re-aiming her crossbow, not intending to waste any time in trying to kill Billie.  The lines around her eyes that her Emily didn’t have, and the way her lips were pressed together in a thin line.

Though she wasn’t in her body, Billie could still feel the strain of her use of Foresight.  Her eyes landed on the open doorway behind Emily, leading to the administrative offices, and a plan began to form in her mind.  Knowing that she had run out of time, Billie allowed herself to be pulled back into her body, and time resumed around her.

She ducked the next crossbow bolt, then rolled out from behind her cover, Displacing herself behind Emily just as Emily Reached over to where Billie was.  Emily whipped around, dissolving into a mass of shadows as Billie fired her voltaic gun at her.  

Billie used Displace liberally to keep away from Emily, knowing from experience that there was no real defense against Shadow Walk.  She took a chance when Emily re-formed, saying, “Emily, I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Good,” Emily replied, raising her Marked hand.  “That’ll make this easier.”

Billie swore when a clone of Emily appeared right in front of her, her sword swinging for Billie’s neck.  Experience and an age-old instinct for survival were the only things that kept her from losing her head right then and there, and she narrowly managed to bury her sword between the copy’s ribs, feeling sick to her stomach as very real viscera spilled onto her hand.

The real Emily was on her a moment later, her swings quick and precise.  Billie fell back on her old habits easily, fighting dirty in order to keep up with Emily’s relentlessness.  She parried one of Emily’s thrusts, knocking her sword aside and getting the chance to aim her voltaic gun right between Emily’s eyes.

She couldn’t pull the trigger.

Billie, after her moment of hesitation, was barely able to twist out of the way, and this time Emily’s blade grazed her side.  Billie was forced several steps back, toward the open doorway to the administrative offices.  She remembered her initial plan, and knew that there was no reasoning with Emily.

She blocked another of Emily’s blows and then knocked her back with a kick to her middle, before turning and flinging one of her hook mines at the door.  She then used Displace to put herself back by the elevator, watching as Emily turned to face her.

The hook mine activated.

Billie grimaced, turning away while Emily was pulled in and let out a shout of frustration.  They’d been silent during their fight, but that was sure to draw the attention of the guards, so Billie hurried over to the elevator controls and activated them before she was outnumbered.

She was hurrying for the elevator when she felt a sting in her back.  She stumbled the last few steps in, hearing the doors slide shut behind her

And then, of fucking course, her vision went black.

“Shit,” Billie hissed, groping ahead of her for the wall.  Emily had managed to get the last laugh in, shooting Billie with a howling bolt just before Billie could make her escape.  She felt around until she could find the doors again, wincing when she remembered that there were still two more guards waiting for her on the surface.  It was bad enough, getting a faceful of the howling dust, but Emily had managed to get it into her bloodstream, which meant that it would last longer.

She slipped a springrazor out of her coat, grimacing at the mess it would make, and placed it next to the doors before retreating as far back in the elevator as she would go.  The cramped space meant that it was inevitable that she would be hit; the most she could do was curl up in a ball and protect her head and neck.

The trip up to the surface seemed to take forever, but even though Billie wanted nothing more than the fall apart over what had just happened, she held her emotions tightly in check, keeping her breathing in check.  There was an ugly feeling in the pit of her stomach - some part of her was viciously proud of besting the tyrant Emily Kaldwin.

_ Tyrant? _ Billie thought, when it hit her: when Daud had spoken of the Empress, he’d meant  _ Emily _ , not Delilah.

At long last, she arrived at the surface, the elevator doors opening with a ‘ding’.  There was a pause, as the guards waited for someone to come out of the elevator, before one of them gave a confused grumble and tried to enter.  

He and his partner both screamed as shrapnel tore into their bodies, rippingthem apart.  Billie hissed in pain as she felt several pieces hit her side and stay lodged there, before she quickly crawled out the doors.  It wasn’t long after that that she heard the telltale sound of the elevator descending again, no doubt so that Emily could pursue her.  

Billie had no choice but to begin running, hoping that she didn’t trip.  She lucked out in that she started to see the fuzzy edges of things just as she reached the treeline, and was able to stumble through the forest as she hurried back down into Karnaca proper.  Thankfully, no one even looked at her twice, and it occurred to her that maybe she’d picked out the red jacket for reasons other than that it looked cool.

Daud was docked on the canal, and Billie hurried down towards him.  

“Where’s Hypatia?” he asked.

Billie shook her head, feeling another wave of nausea as she realized that she’d nearly forgotten about Hypatia in the ensuing fight.  Her own survival had taken priority over any kind of mourning.

“Just go,” she said, gritting her teeth against the pain.

Daud’s eyes traveled to her side, where some of the shrapnel was visible, protruding from her jacket, but he didn’t question her.  Instead, he wordlessly steered them away from the dock, taking them in the direction of the bay.  Towards the Dreadful Wale and (hopefully) safety.

During the entire trip, Billie had to resist the urge to scream.

* * *

 

The Dreadful Wale was moored further away from the docks than most of the other ships, and now Billie knew why.  Once again, she was in a city where all the wanted posters featured her face, and if those wanted posters had been issued by Emily herself, then the Empress had likely told the local authorities to keep an eye out for her ship as well.  

She could feel Daud’s eyes on her as they approached the ship, but she couldn’t look at him.  Hypatia’s throat spilling blood, Emily staring at her with nothing but cold hatred in her gaze, Emily’s voice as she said that killing Billie would be easy... the images wouldn’t leave her alone.  Billie rubbed at her temples; on top of all of that, she could feel the Void fighting her again, trying to force her to take more of it.

Once they were on the ship, Billie wanted nothing more than to head up to the top deck, curl up on her bed, and not move, but Daud gestured wordlessly for her to follow him to the workroom.

Anton’s tools and materials had been cleared out, leaving the place uncomfortably bare, but Daud rummaged through the cabinets until he pulled out a kit of medical supplies.  Billie suddenly remembered putting the kit there, having decided that it was better safe than sorry to have an extra one with her.  She obliged Daud’s strange need to patch up her wound, shedding her red jacket and lifting her shirt just enough that he could, remove the shrapnel, clean the cuts, and stitch them up.

The pain of the needle made her suck in a breath, but it was good distraction.  For a few minutes, she didn’t have to think about Emily.

Daud tied off the wounds neatly, then handed her jacket back to her.  Billie didn’t know what to make of him, not remembering him being this... nurturing, in the past.  

She didn’t thank him, though.  Instead, she asked, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Tell you what?”

“That Emily’s a...”

She trailed off, realizing that she didn’t know what word to use.  Daud was more than happy to fill it in for her.

“Stone-cold bitch?  A tyrant?  A despot?”  He laughed bitterly.  “Didn’t realize that saving her all those years ago would create an even bigger monster than Delilah.  As to why, I assumed you already knew.”

She still couldn’t remember.  Had she still ferried Emily down to Karnaca and helped her overthrow Delilah?  Had she told Emily who she really was?  Or had she seen an Emily who showed mercy to no one - even those who were nothing more than witnesses - and been more wary of revealing the truth?

“Yeah, well,” she muttered.  “I  _ wish  _ I’d known.”

“You ran into her, didn’t you.”

“She was visiting the prison.”  Billie clenched her fists.  “She killed Hypatia in front of me.”

Daud swore.  “There haven’t been any official announcements.  So if she’s here, she wants to keep it low-profile.  That’s not a good sign.  It means she’s up to something more than just witnessing Hypatia’s execution.”

“Who’s in charge of Karnaca right now?”

“No one.  You told me that she killed everyone who could have taken up that role.”

Billie couldn’t remember that conversation, either.  She shook her head, the urge to go to the top deck coming back.  “This isn’t right.  She isn’t like this.  She’s a good person - a good leader.  She only kills when it’s absolutely necessary.”

“In your world, maybe.”  Daud’s looking at her with something like pity, now.  “But here?  There’s this picture of Emily that the papers used to circulate.  You still see it everywhere, but the papers had to stop printing it.  It’s a drawing of her personally executing one of Delilah’s witches.  Barely more than a girl.  She was crying.  In the picture, the Empress has a blood spatter on her cheek.  A lot of people who worked at the newspapers disappeared at the same time that that image did.”

Silence followed that statement.  Billie felt like she was trapped in some kind of nightmare, and wanted nothing more than to wake up from it.  She stood up, intending to get some rest, when the world seemed to slow and shift around her again, leaving her wanted to heave up what little food was in her belly.  The next thing she knew, Hypatia was looking down at her, a concerned look on her face.

Billie froze.  Hypatia stared, then breathed out a sigh of relief.

“Thank goodness,” she said.  “You were unconscious for so long, I - Lucia and I weren’t sure what to do.  We made you as comfortable as we could, but all we could feed you without choking you was broth.  It was like you were comatose, but... there was no obvious cause for it.  How do you feel?”

“Like shit,” Billie muttered.

Hypatia smiled gently.  “Understandable, given that you’re probably very hungry.  I’ll go let Lucia know that you’re awake.”

Hypatia stood up, and Billie realized that she was in a small bedroom that was likely Hypatia’s.  Just before Hypatia could exit, Billie stopped her.  

“Alexandria,” she said.  The doctor paused.  “Can you... can you give me five minutes?”

Another gentle smile.  “Of course.”

Hypatia left the room, shutting the down behind her.  Billie let out a shuddering exhale, curling up onto her side and hugging her knees to her chest.  It was only then that she realized that she was trembling, and a dry sob escaped her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There'll be more aftermath time after this. Also, if you're getting the impression that Daud's hiding something, you're... not wrong.


	7. Part VI

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *laughs maniacally as I ignore DOTO canon*

_ She ran before Emily could return to the deck, swimming for shore, unable to look back and regret the loss of her home. _

_ She waited, and she listened, hearing the rumors of a woman with a scarf over her face who was slaughtering people in the street. _

_ She remembered hearing about the Masked Felon, and how he carved a bloody path through the Whalers after she escaped, but it was another thing to witness that kind of murder firsthand - despite the fact that she herself had committed such murders, despite the fact that she, too, would likely have taken their lives if Emily hadn’t found her first. _

_ She watched as Karnaca rotted away, both inside and out. _

Billie’s dreams were the kind that she would ordinarily associate with fever or madness, but she knew otherwise.  She lost count of the number of times she awoke in a cold sweat, her breathing harsh, the small dinner she’d been able to force down her throat threatening to come back up.

That was how she spent her night, and her day wasn’t much better.  She managed to choke out a short retelling of what had happened to her while she was ‘unconscious’ to Hypatia, avoiding the detail that Hypatia had been killed by Emily in front of her.  She didn’t mention that she could still feel Hypatia’s blood coating her hands, as though she was still there and not here.

_ Is this the true world, or is it that other place? _

Plagued by nightmares or not, however, Billie had never been one for sitting still for long periods of time.  She stayed in Lucia’s apartment for about an hour after her discussion with Hypatia before the urge to get something done overtook her, and she left in search of the market.  Between the three of them, they desperately needed more coffee.

Though she had only been in that other world for a little over a day, she marveled at the difference: the clean streets, the lack of dust, the general air of content.  Nothing like the cloying smell of rotting meat, and the underlying current of fear that was present both in the air and on the people’s faces.

Billie estimated that her letter to Emily would take a few days to arrive, with the new system for using carrier pigeons in place.  They were reserved for Imperial correspondence, for the moment, but Emily spoke often on the matter, saying that she hoped to allow sending letters by bird for all citizens of the Empire.

A centralized courier system.  Yet another of the Empress’ plans.  Billie wondered if the other Emily had ever wanted to implement such reforms, or if her goals had always revolved around revenge and the slaughter of everyone in her way.

She pushed aside those thoughts, focusing on the present long enough to barter for coffee beans from one of the merchants.  Billie left carrying an entire sack of beans, satisfied that Lucia and Alexandria wouldn’t have to buy more for at least a month.  

She’d gone to the Cyria Gardens in order to buy the coffee, and the trek back led her past the Royal Conservatory.  It seemed to be a hubbub of activity once again, since the Council of Serkonos had reopened it as a public museum.  People were going in and out, with smiles on their faces, clearly having no idea of the rituals and acts of witchcraft that once took place there.  Byrne’s work, more than likely, as he would have the most knowledge of how to clean up after Void magic.

_ Emily clambered into the boat, quickly dipping her hands into the water and scrubbing them clean.  For a moment, Billie was tempted to remind her that the canal water in Karnaca wasn’t likely to be of any real help with that, but then decided against it. _

_ “Got what you needed?” she asked. _

_ Emily nodded.  “The Duke is keeping something for Delilah.  If I want to kill her, I need to get to it first.” _

_ She didn’t seem inclined to tell Billie more of her own volition, so Billie prompted her with, “And Stilton?” _

_ “He was a broken shell of a man.”  Emily didn’t sound bothered by that.  She never did.  “I did him a favor.” _

_ Billie swallowed down her first reaction of grief and rage, letting the anger simmer deep down instead.  At this point, she couldn’t even really be surprised anymore.  She’d held out some hope, after Emily had saved Hypatia, that perhaps Emily might extend the same courtesy to him.  He’d been a good man. _

_ Emily caught her eye.  “I didn’t enjoy it, if that’s what you’re thinking.” _

_ Billie shook her head.  “It doesn’t matter.” _

_ “There’s one person I can think of who might be able to lead this district into a better tomorrow,” Emily remarked, as though she hadn’t even registered what Billie just said.  “We’ll have to wait and see if they’re up to the task, though.” _

_ Their journey back to the Dreadful Wale was silent.  Billie pretended that she didn’t notice the curious looks that Emily sent her way - ones that lacked any shame for the number of people she no doubt killed while she was in the Dust District.  Emily murdered with the same consideration that someone might use when squishing insects, and though she knew of Billie’s unspoken of disapproval, she didn’t seem to care for it.   _

Brat, _ was Billie’s thought. _

_ Emily excused herself to her cabin when they arrived, ostensibly so that she could get some much-needed sleep.  For a few moments, Billie was tempted - she thought of the Whaler sword that she kept hidden under a floorboard in her cabin, and of the fact that not even Emily would be able to sense her in time while she was sleeping.  She shook off that thought; as far as Billie was concerned, she was still repaying her debt. _

_ (And there was the small part of her that was eagerly awaiting the day that Emily went after the Duke.  One man whose death Billie would celebrate, rather than regret.) _

The memory came and went in the blink of an eye - not an actual shift between worlds, but enough to almost make her drop the sack.  It lent some much-needed context to the reason why Emily had been so hell-bent on killing her.  She felt sick to her stomach when she realized how much she’d wanted to kill Emily first, to prevent her from regaining any kind of power.

Billie kept walking, shaking her head and trying to remind herself of good things instead: the way Emily threw her head back when she laughed, Emily smirking when she managed to outsmart a noble in court, the soft smile that Emily reserved for Billie just before she would kiss her.

The sharp ache in her chest reminded her of just how much she missed her.  She shook it off, and continued to make her way back to Hypatia’s apartment.

* * *

 

“Can you tell me what you’re doing to cope?” Hypatia asked, not looking up from the diagrams laid out in front of her.  Billie couldn’t make heads or tails of what was drawn on any of them, but she decided that as long as they helped with her problem then she didn’t care.

“I didn’t have time to cope while I was... over there,” Billie replied.  “Things moved too quickly for me to process.  But since I’ve gotten back here, I’ve been doing breathing exercises, mostly.  Sometimes I try to think of things that make me happy to stave off the emotions from... the other me.”

Hypatia hummed.  “Yes, though I should warn you that all of my studies into the human mind have suggested that trying to shut out feelings is unhealthy.”

Billie laughed, and if Alexandria heard the edge of desperation in her voice, she didn’t show it.  “I don’t see how I have a choice.”

Hypatia suddenly put down her pen, folding her hands in her lap and staring Billie down.  “Meagan, is there some part of this that you’re not telling me?”

Billie had never been one for lying.  “Several parts.”

Hypatia frowned.  “Well, I certainly don’t wish to pry, but the more I know, the more I’ll be able to help you.  I’m not saying I need to know - all I needed to know was that there were things that you were hiding.”

“No, there’s at least one part of this that you deserve to know.”

Alexandria raised one eyebrow, and Billie noticed her hands curl into fists.  “Oh?”

“Yes.”  Billie sighed.  She really needed to get out of the habit of hiding things and pretending it was for the sake of the person she was hiding them from, when really it was for her own sake.

Hypatia stayed quiet while Billie told her that the prisoner she’d gone to rescue was the other world’s version of Hypatia - how she’d been locked up for the Crown Killer murders, and how she’d been reluctant to accept Billie’s help at first.  She admitted that Emily had been the one to slaughter Hypatia instead of the prison warden, a fact which made Hypatia’s eyes widen in shock.

After she finished telling the tale she fell silent, watching the doctor while she processed the information.

“I suppose there is something I must confess as well,” she said after a long moment.  “I didn’t think it was related, though it’s one of the things I’ve been looking into for a long time now.  I’ve been dreaming - in vivid, agonizing detail - of my own death.”

She paused.  Billie realized she was holding her breath, and forced herself to inhale.

“I assumed it was my mind inflicting some sort of punishment for what I - what Grim Alex - did.”  Hypatia swallowed.  “I can never recall faces, but I do remember something in my throat, and splitting pain in my eye before everything goes black.  It matches what you described exactly.”

“So whatever’s happening to me isn’t just happening to me,” Billie deduced.

Hypatia shrugged.  “We can’t really say that for certain, unless I end up switching over to the other world as well.  It’s certainly not a pleasant experience, and I have this dream almost every night, but I have yet to pass out during the day, or to even hallucinate while awake.  It does look like whatever the problem is, it’s not because of you.  Rather, you’re affected more than anyone else that we know of.”

“That we know of,” Billie repeated.  “Has Lucia had any nightmares like this?”

Hypatia blinked.  “Why Lucia?”

“Because she was publicly executed in the other world.”

Alexandria actually swore this time, startling Billie.  Then she shook her head.

“No, as far as I know, she hasn’t been having the same problem.  We’d both be up and unable to sleep at the same time if that were the case.”

Billie nodded, disappointed that that line of thought hadn’t led any further.  The two of them fell silent as Hypatia went back to working on her diagrams, and Billie, unable to sit idle, got up and brewed another pot of coffee.  She hovered next to Hypatia for a few minutes after handing the doctor a mug, staring down at the diagram and noting that it looked uncomfortably close to an arc pylon.

Hypatia didn’t seem to notice that Billie was staring at first, but eventually she blinked and looked up at her.  

“Oh,” she said.  “This is... I don’t know if there’s a scientific way to study the Void, but if there is, then this is the way.”

Billie studied the diagram.  “You think you can use this to... what?”

“Gather information on it, ideally,” Hypatia answered.  “Though as it is now, it almost certainly wouldn’t work.  I either need the help of someone who is... accustomed to working with the Void, or I’d need a library of heretical texts to peruse.”

As she said this, she glanced at Billie out of the corner of her eye, looking disappointed when Billie shook her head.

“I didn’t know you had a knack for machinery,” Billie said instead.  

Alexandria shrugged.  “I could have made engineering my field of study, if I so wished.  Nothing was ever as satisfying as working with my patients, however.  I’ll always prefer that over the nuts and bolts and isolation that accompanies working with machines.  Not to mention the kind of monstrosities one could create - look at Jindosh’s clockworks.”

Billie couldn’t argue with that.  

“My skills are a bit rusty,” Hypatia continued.  “But I can at least remember all of my lessons in quantum mechanics, and I know enough to build this without accidentally ripping a hole in the universe.”

“Let’s hope so.”

An idea suddenly popped into her head, and Billie said to Hypatia, “Can you give me a few hours?”

Hypatia blinked.  “Certainly.  Remember to continue your breathing exercises if things start to happen again.”

“Yeah, I got it,” Billie replied, waving to her as she stepped out the door.  “Thanks again, Alexandria.”

Billie let out a long breath, heading down the stairs and passing by Lucia’s office.  It was quieter than normal in the Family Committee headquarters, which meant that she got a few more stares than normal, since those who were present weren’t distracted like they usually were.  If anyone recognized her, they didn’t say anything.

Outside, she stared at the entrance to Aramis’ home with some trepidation.  Every time she got near the place, the Void became almost overwhelming.  Now, she was wondering if that was more than just coincidence.  

Billie squared her shoulders and started making her way to the entrance.  Thankfully, apart from the whispers getting louder, the only other thing that happened was a flash of phantom pain in her eye and her shoulder.  She shuddered, recalling the red tint over her vision in the other world, but kept going, unwilling to give up so easily.

The heavy feeling in Billie’s chest grew, and she felt like each step dragged as though she was wading through mud.  She struggled to enter the combination - the version she remembered getting from Emily in this world - and pushed open the doors.

“Sorry, Aramis,” she mumbled.  “I might throw up on your porch.”

There was only one more set of doors to get through before the courtyard, and as Billie made her way through them, everything changed.

The pressure from the Void eased.  She’d even go so far as to say that she felt oddly light, as though she could float away if she wasn’t careful.  Physically, she felt better than she had in weeks - months, even.  

What she was seeing around her didn’t reflect that.

Stilton’s manor seemed to be shifting, constantly, as though it was underwater.  One moment the house appeared to be pristine, and the next it was a dilapidated mess.  Billie smelled fresh flowers and rotting flesh in equal measure; the combination would have nauseated her if it weren’t for the Void buoying her up.

“So  _ now  _ you decide to give me a break,” Billie muttered, trying to hide how unsettled she was feeling.

The courtyard in front of her wavered, and then she was watching a scene that she had only ever witnessed in dreams.

Herself, three years ago, armed with little more than a knife.  She fought against the guards to escape the manor, having already determined that Stilton was missing, or dead.  She killed one and grabbed another, getting him in a choke hold and putting her back to the entrance.  She watched, dumbfounded, as one of the guards (heedless of his comrade) threw a grenade at her anyway, and -

Billie turned away as the explosion hit, but that wasn’t enough to stop her from hearing the scream.

The scene faded into the wind as though it had merely been a figment of Billie’s imagination.  Not particularly wanting to see more, but aware that this was the only way to get the answers she needed, Billie kept moving, approaching the manor entrance.

Another waver, this one much closer, and suddenly Emily was beside her.

Billie opened her mouth - to say what, she didn’t know - but she quickly realized that Emily wasn’t truly there, with her.  She just barely stopped herself from reaching out, watching as Emily pushed open the front door, casting her gaze about warily.

She followed the echo of Emily through the first and second floors, and stared in horror when they found Stilton - or rather, what was left of him.  It didn’t make any sense - he’d been  _ fine _ , he’d been able to help them get inside Luca Abele’s palace -

The Outsider appeared.

This time Billie let out a yell, though Emily didn’t react.  She didn’t seem surprised by his presence, and it took a moment for Billie to realize that the Outsider was yet another apparition.  He didn’t seem to take any notice of her, focusing only on Emily as he described what had happened to Aramis because of Delilah.  Then he left some kind of contraption behind, something that Emily took after only a moment’s hesitation.

The room shifted, and this time they were in a warm, clean version of the same place.

“Wow,” Emily murmured, staring at the contraption, and Billie realized that, somehow, the device had changed things.   _ Changed them how? _

Emily used the timepiece to change the room again, and split in two.

Billie stared as one Emily made her way over to the door, while the other stood over Stilton.

The first said, “I need to use this to get out of the room.”

The second said, “You’re no use to me like this,” and buried her sword in Stilton’s throat.

“ _ No _ !” Billie shouted, even knowing that there was nothing she could do.  She couldn’t even seem to run fast enough, and when she tried to tackle the second Emily, she passed straight through her.  Wildly she shook her head and turned, passing straight through the barrier over the door and running out of the room, unwilling to believe what she’d just witnessed.  

“What is this?” she shouted at nothing.  “What am I seeing here?”

No one answered.  Typical.

Billie had managed to get back up to the second floor when she felt a tug somewhere.  She turned her head, realizing that she’d run right into the ballroom.  There were guards - and then there weren’t, their forms wavering like everything else.  Billie followed the tug, as it led her past the guards and out into the back courtyard.  

Both versions of Emily were there.  Feeling as though she stood on the edge of something, Billie took a few steps forward.  Both were perched in the rafters of the barrier, though in different places.  

Billie watched as one Reached, grabbing something next to Stilton and then darting back towards the manor.  The other shot him with a sleep dart first, then did the same thing as the first and hurried back.

She blinked in confusion, wondering what kind of significance that was supposed to have, when someone grabbed her by the shoulder.

Billie jumped, startled, and found herself face-to-face with the Outsider.

“You have to go,” he said.  

“What?  I don’t understand - what’s - “

“I’m sorry.”  The urgency and genuine remorse in his voice were at odds with the indifferent being that Billie had witnessed talking to Emily.  “I’d explain if I had the time, but right now you  _ need to go _ .  Get back to the Dreadful Wale.”

“But - “

“Go!”

He shoved her, harder than she would expect him to be able to, and the next thing she knew she was either falling, or flying, or not moving at all - and then she was lying on her bed in the Dreadful Wale’s cabin.

The first thing she noticed after getting up was the red tint to her vision.

“Shit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, my goal of getting this entire thing posted before DOTO was released failed, but you know what? I care so little about what happened in that game that I don't even feel the need to correct anything so that it aligns with canon. 
> 
> Hope you liked the random Outsider cameo.


	8. Part VII

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please refer to the tags if you have any doubts regarding Daud's characterization.

She became aware of the noises first: shouts and gunshots.  Billie swore again, grabbing her sword from where it sat at her bedside and jumping to her feet.  

That proved to be a mistake - she almost doubled over from how weak she felt, and her head swam before she was able to get herself under control.  She guessed that she’d been unconscious in this world while she was in the other world, and that she was paying the price for that now.

As she exited her cabin, she realized that the noises were coming from the deck.  She avoided going up and out through the cargo hold doors, instead staying quiet as she crept up the stairs to the top deck.  She could see a silhouette standing outside on the deck, their back to the starboard door.  It was almost too easy for her to sneak up behind him and choke him unconscious.

The scene below her was utter chaos.  Grand Guard soldiers, half of them dead, half of them crouched behind cover, were all trying - and failing - to land a shot on Daud.  Daud, for his part, was moving faster than Billie had ever seen him move, a silent juggernaut as he Transversed around the ship.  He was picking off the guards one by one, almost too easily, but Billie could see that he was flagging.

Billie stood, and threw a hook mine as hard as she could.

It landed in the opening to the cargo hold and pulled one of the soldiers with it, his scream cut off as he made impact.  Billie used Foresight next, surveying how many guards were left, and tried not to think about how easily she’d taken to her abilities.  

Ten left.  Between her and Daud, easily taken care of.

She put a Displace marker behind one, then went back to her body and jumped down onto another before any of them even had time to realize that she’d entered the fray.  She Displaced, stabbing the first guard in the back, and then Displaced again so that she was back up on the top deck, where she shot three more guards with her wristbow.

Daud, meanwhile, killed two more while she was doing this, before one got a lucky shot in and Daud reappeared, stumbling.  Billie Displaced in front of him before the overly-cocky Grand Guard soldier could kill him, blocking his slash and swinging her sword at his neck with a hoarse shout, almost beheading him.  As it was, her blade cleaved his throat deep enough that he fell with a gurgle.

That left two, and they both started to look terrified - until their gaze moved to somewhere behind Billie and Daud, and shifted to triumphant.  

Billie whirled around, already knowing what she would see.

“All hail her majesty!” one guard shouted, before his cry was cut off.  Billie didn’t bother to look, already knowing that Daud was back in the fight.  Instead, she focused on Emily, bracing herself for a rematch that she wasn’t ready for, emotionally or physically.

Emily, for her part, regarded her coolly.  Her blade gleamed in the light from the ship’s lamps, and her left held her crossbow loosely in its grip.  Unlike the last time, she didn’t seem as willing to kill and ask questions later - something that made Billie even more wary.  She didnt dare to lower her sword from its defensive position.

“I should’ve known you were involved,” Emily said, and Billie realized that Daud had finished off the last two guards, and was now standing beside her, watching Emily like a hawk.  “Was it your idea to break Hypatia out of prison?”

“She didn’t deserve your retribution,” Daud replied.

Emily smiled mockingly.  “No one ever does, do they?  My mother certainly didn’t.”

Daud flinched, but his face hardened.

“You think your mother would be proud of what you’re doing?”

“She isn’t,” Emily said, and Billie didn’t have time to ponder that statement before she continued.  “But my mother - for all of her virtues - was naive.  She was never capable of truly understanding what it takes to keep an empire together.”

“Right,” Billie said.  “Just like she could never murder every citizen under her rule.”

“A traitor is, by law, no longer a citizen.”

“What are you up to?” growled Daud.  “You didn’t come here to talk.”

“Yes, I did.”  Emily surprised Billie by sheathing her swordand attaching it to her belt, before she pulled something else off of it.  In the dim lighting, Billie could make out a sliver of light blue.  “I needed you distracted.”

Those words were enough to stir both of them into action - Daud Transversing to where she was, and Billie using Displace to do the same.  Emily anticipated both reactions, Reached up to the second deck, and aimed her crossbow at the cargo hold opening.

“ _ Run _ !” shouted Daud.

Billie didn’t think twice, instinct to follow his orders kicking in as she sprinted for the side of the ship.  The concussive force of the explosion sent her flying the rest of the way into the water, and her alarmed shout was cut off as salt filled her mouth.  

She used Foresight as soon as she was coherent enough, floating through the water and figuring out where Daud was; his eyes were closed and he appeared limp, so she assumed he was unconscious.  She swore silently when she saw the Dreadful Wale, frozen in mid-explosion, and kept an eye on the fragments that were in the air.  She set a Displace marker next to Daud, knowing that she would have to get him out of the water as soon as possible.

Time resumed, and then she was next to Daud, hauling him up to the surface.  She did the best she could to keep his head above the water, though she had to pull them both back under when debris started to rain down on them.  

Daud didn’t stir the entire time they were moving through the water, and Billie silently cursed him for finally letting his age catch up to him.  Eventually they came within sight of the shore, and she put his arm around her shoulders the minute her feet touched solid ground.  She was almost numb with exhaustion, her limbs heavy from the water dragging at her, trying to pull her down.

She ended up Displacing them the rest of the way, then collapsed to her knees.  She didn’t have time to rest, however; instead, she put her ear next to Daud’s mouth.

“Fucking shit, Daud,” she hissed, starting chest compressions.  One of the Whalers - a former actual whaler - had taught them all how to do this, and she only hoped that the years hadn’t rusted the skill away.

One, two, three, four... Billie counted in her head as she did each one, tilting his head back and breathing into his mouth twice after she hit thirty.  She forced herself not to think about how Emily probably had the Grand Guard scouring the shore for survivors, or about how Emily had even gotten off the ship alive.  It didn’t seem possible, but Emily had a Mark and didn’t have to haul an unconscious man around.

_ He’s just unconscious, _ Billie thought, refusing to let panic settle in.

After what seemed like an eternity, Daud finally coughed, and Billie was quick to roll him onto his side as he convulsed.  He still wasn’t awake, but he was at least getting air in his lungs again.  Billie let out a sigh, hoisting him over her shoulder and making a beeline for the trees.

Hiking back to Karnaca proper would be dangerous, but Billie didn’t see how she had a choice.  There would be no shelter for miles in any other direction, and they were more exposed out here, as opposed to in the city.  It was slower going than she would’ve liked, but fortunately, she didn’t have to wait long.

“Put me down, Lurk,” Daud growled.  Billie rolled her eyes - of course he was grumpy about it - but acquiesced, carefully setting him on his feet.  He swayed a bit, and for a minute Billie thought he was going to collapse again, but then he straightened.

“What happened?”

“Ship blew up,” Billie said, too tired to be more eloquent.  “You hit your head.  I pulled us out of the water.  Got the water out of your lungs.”

Daud was quiet for a moment.  Then: “Thank you.  Are you alright?”

The thanks surprised Billie enough that she looked over at Daud.  He was staring at the ground ahead of him, apparently concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other.  Though Billie had gotten better at figuring out what he was thinking over the years, she still sometimes found him inscrutable.  This was one of those times.

“I feel like a dead woman walking,” she answered.

“Look like it too,” Daud muttered, dodging Billie’s elbow.  “Do you want to tell me what  _ else  _ happened?  You were unconscious for almost two days, Billie.  Out of nowhere you just collapsed on me, wouldn’t wake up for anything.”

He sounded angry, but also - afraid?

“I went back.”

“To the other world?  Where Hypatia’s still alive, and Pastor, and Emily Kaldwin isn’t a monster?”

“Yes.”  Billie sighed.  “Which means that I’m unconscious there, now.  Great.”

“You still got the Knife?”

Billie opened her mouth to ask what Daud was talking about, when she realized that her whaler sword wasn’t the only weapon she had on her person.  She pulled the double-bladed knife from her belt, staring at it with an open mouth.  How long had she had this?  Last time she’d seen it (before Emily ordered it locked up) she’d nearly been gutted by it.

“What is this?” she asked.  “Why do I have this?”

“You don’t remember?”

“No,” she snapped.  “Frankly, I don’t even remember how I have a bunch of fucking sticks as a functioning right arm, or a rock for an eye.”

Daud snorted, but there was no humor to it.  “The Knife you stole, before you found me.  Ostensibly from the Empress’ vault in the Michaels Bank.  As for the arm and the eye... you never told me how you came by those, just that there was an incident with the Grand Guard a few years ago and you had to compensate.”

Billie growled in frustration, the details just out of reach, though she had a vague recollection of being somewhere cold and dark.  

“This isnt’ what I wanted,” she snarled, clenching her fists.

“Then what do you want?” Daud asked.  “Freedom?  Money?  For the Empress to not want to slice open both our throats?”

“I’ll settle for the right world.”

“The place you come from must really be a paradise, compared to this.”

Billie didn’t miss the sarcasm in his voice.  She rounded on him, saying, “Do you have a problem?”

“Yeah,” he rasped, not bothering to hide his glare.  “My problem is that that Billie Lurk I know wouldn’t have let the empress talk our ears off.  The Billie Lurk I know would’ve gone for the throat, shown no mercy.  Not just standing there with this dumbstruck look on her face.”

“I didn’t see you stepping in,” Billie snapped.

“I wouldn’t have stood a chance,” he countered.  “I was barely standing as it was, and since Emily Kaldwin is Marked, she would’ve torn me apart.  You, however, stood a chance.  Why not just finish her off then and there?”

“I can’t just - “

“Why not?  You don’t owe her anything!”

“Daud, shut the fuck up.”

“Don’t you  _ dare _ , Lurk.”

“What?”  Billie laughed bitterly, her anger over everything that had happened finally reaching its boiling point.  “I’m not a Whaler anymore.  I don’t even have the bond.  I don’t follow your orders, I don’t call you ‘boss’.  I don’t have to tell you anything.  Void, why did I even  _ rescue  _ you?”

Silence followed that statement.  Billie turned her gaze away from Daud, focusing instead on putting one foot in front of the other.  The lack of response told her that he didn’t know the answer, either.

Finally, he said, “I’m supposed to be asking you that.  After what I did to you -”

Billie blinked, thrown off by that statement.  “What  _ you  _ did - ?”

She froze, her hand almost automatically flying up to her throat.  She felt along a jagged scar that she had there, one that explained her choice of high-collar red coat.  She swallowed, imagining that she could feel the pull of the scar as she did.  The memory came to the surface easily, unlike the others.

“I don’t know how you survived,” Daud rasped.  He wasn’t looking at her.  “When you showed up on the prison ship, I thought you were a ghost.  I thought my time had come.  Or that, if you weren’t a ghost, you were there to finally finish the job.”

Billie stumbled a few steps to her left, putting some distance between them.  The terror that came with the memory hit her hard, so unlike the emptiness that had come after the Daud that  _ she  _ knew had spared her life.  She remembered thinking it would be clean, and then almost panicking when it wasn’t.  She remembered being rescued by Delilah, half-conscious while the witch healed her wounds.  She remembered stealing away in the night after hearing that Daud was coming for Delilah, the guilt and fear overwhelming her.

“You let me go,” she forced out.  “In the other world, you let me go.”

“Awfully nice of me.”  Daud paused.  “I regretted it, Billie.  I regretted it the moment I put a sword to your throat.  I wished I could take it back, that I wasn’t just responsible for destroying one of the few people who meant anything to me.”

“What’s one more life,” Billie murmured.  She remembered the Emily from this world saying something like that to her, at some point.  “You and our esteemed empress have a lot in common.  There’s just enough hatred in her heart for her logic to become all twisted up.”

“I’m trying to make up for what I did,” Daud said.  “I killed Jessamine Kaldwin and sent Dunwall spiralling into chaos.  I saved her daughter, and now her daughter is creating one of the biggest bloodbaths in the history of the Isles.”

“Unless we stop her,” Billie said, not liking how hollow her voice was.

“It’s more than that,” Daud replied.  “I want to stop her, but I want to help you too, Billie.  This thing that’s happening to you - it’s only getting worse.  I’m afraid of what it might mean.  For you.”

Billie met his eyes for the first time since he’d reminded her that he tried to kill her.  It would’ve been easier for her if he wasn’t being sincere.

“What’s next, then?” she asked.  She wasn’t anywhere close to finished processing everything he’d told her, but she did the only thing she could: she moved on.

“We need to find out what the empress is planning,” Daud said.  “She’s in Karnaca for a reason, but she still hasn’t announced her presence to the public.  My gut’s telling me that whatever her reasons, they’re going to spell disaster.”

“You don’t think she’s here for us?”

“I doubt it.”  Daud looked ahead.  “She wasn’t expecting you to try to rescue Hypatia.  At any rate, she’s probably staying at the Grand Palace.  If we’re going to find the information we need anywhere, it’ll be there.”

“Not easy to break into,” Billie warned.  

Daud laughed.  “Between the two of us?  I wouldn’t worry about it.”

* * *

 

They wound up squatting in a condemned apartment, after clearing out the bloodfly nests.  At least one of them was awake at all times, while the other rested and healed.  Billie was grateful that her bone charms survived the attack on her ship; it made recovering that much easier for her.

Daud was less fortunate.  His bone charms had been in his coat, which he’d left in the galley when he went to confront the attackers.  

The apartment was in the Aventa District, which wasn’t too far from the Grand Palace.  When they weren’t sleeping or scrounging for food, they were going over plans.  Billie had had to hand-draw a map from memory, based on the map she’d given Emily before Emily went to kill (depose?) the Duke.  

When the night of their planned break-in finally rolled around, Billie felt (mostly) back to her old strength.  Being unconscious for so long, going without proper food and water, had weakened her greatly, made worse by the fact that she had to be the one to get herself and Daud out of the water.  She didn’t want to think about how she would feel when she went back to the other world, as she’d already been in this one a few days.

_ If  _ she went back again, that is.

Sleeping with Daud nearby, after finding out what she had, wasn’t easy, but though it always took hours, eventually she would drift off into an uneasy slumber.  If Daud had the same difficulty, then he was very good at hiding it.

While Daud looked over the maps one last time, Billie managed to force down a few figs, even though food was the last thing on her mind.  Emily would most likely be at the Grand Palace.  Billie knew it, and Daud knew it, and though he didn’t say anything, she knew that he expected her to avoid any confrontations.  Which was just fine with her; she didn’t want to have to see this Emily again anytime soon.

After reciting the plan one last time, Billie left, Displacing herself to the roof from her balcony and then sticking to the rooftops the rest of the way.  Even the Palace District was in shambles, she noted as she passed over it; many of the apartment buildings were condemned because of bloodfly infestations.  Billie paused to disable one of the watchtowers, so that she was able to slip past the remaining guard unnoticed.

Once the Grand Palace was in sight, Billie blinked.

The building was more than half demolished.  Rubble lay everywhere, and the only structures left standing appeared to be the vault and the section of palace where the Duke’s quarters were.  Billie would’ve assumed that this was yet another reconstruction project, excepting there were no signs of attempted rebuilding.

There also seemed to just be a skeleton guard - she counted no more than ten soldiers during her scan of the perimeter.  There was no sign of a construction crew, so she guessed that they’d already gone home for the day.  

She unsheathed her whaler sword, unwilling to make use of the Knife.  That thing unnerved her.

Billie made her way to the quarters of the Duke (or, she supposed, the royal quarters) and Displaced herself up to the balcony.  From there, she could look inside and see that they appeared to be unoccupied for the moment, though there were signs that someone was living there.  She recognized Emily’s blue overcoat draped over one of the chairs.

Activating Foresight told her that the rooms were clear.  

Billie slipped inside, making a beeline for the desk in the upper part of the quarters.  She’d lucked out for once - the desk was strewn with all manner of memos and letters, all appearing to be recent.  They were also ordered neatly in piles based on some kind of categorization, though that wasn’t much help if Billie didn’t know what that categorization  _ was _ .

The first appeared to be papers related to trade agreements.  The second was an honest-to-goodness blackmail pile (Billie raised both eyebrows when she caught glimpses of some of the things written down), and the third through sixth were about the four different Isles.  The top paper on the seventh pile had the word ‘Karnaca’ written in it, and Billie gave a sigh of relief.

That relief didn’t last very long, as she sifted through the pile and saw all kinds of letters and notes about ‘preparations’.  There was always an emphasis on doing things quietly, so that the residents of Karnaca wouldn’t be alerted.  Most of them had to do with moving shipments of old whale oil to different parts of the city, especially the Batista District and the Aventa District.  

Billie couldn’t figure it out - not until she reached the very last thing in the pile.  It was a newspaper article, with the title, “Bloodfly infestations reach an all-time high, more than half the city uninhabitable.”

The pieces clicked together.

“ _ No _ ,” hissed Billie, backing away from the desk, horrified.  Thinking quickly, she rearranged the papers on the desk so that they were back the way she’d found them, except for a few of the documents that detailed where whale oil was being shipped.  Emily would, no doubt, notice that they were missing, but based on her papers, the plan was too far along for her to be able to move it all now.  

Billie high-tailed it down the stairs, stuffing what she’d taken into her coat.  She made her way back through the ruins of the Grand Palace, back through the Palace District, and through Aventa in what must’ve been record time, swinging down onto the balcony of where she and Daud were staying.  Daud was still awake, and he looked up from where he sat as she entered.

Billie pulled out the documents she’d stolen, gesturing at them as Daud took them.  “Whale oil shipments.  Old whale oil, too, not very useful for powering anything.  She’s having massive shipments taken to different parts of the city - some more than others, but I don’t think a single district has been left out.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Something worse than anything we could’ve thought of.”  Billie swallowed.  “Daud, she’s going to burn the city.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some people??? Burn down cities?? To cope?????
> 
> (I'm sorry)


	9. Part VIII

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We've got a little shippy moment in this chapter!

Billie could’ve sworn that Daud was going to wear a hole in the floor with his pacing.  Then he’d be dumped into the room below them, which was still full of the bloodflies that were, apparently, the reason why Emily felt the need to destroy an entire city.

For her part, she sat cross-legged on her mattress, her face buried in her hands.  For the first time, just when she really needed an idea of what to do, her mind came up blank.  She’d always been able to take action in the past - she went to Dunwall, against every survival instinct she had, to find Emily during the coup, even after Sokolov had been kidnapped and she had trouble closing her eyes (eye) to get some sleep.  Taking action was all she  _ could  _ do, after Daud had let her go (tried to kill her), so she kept on running.

Yet here she was.  It couldn’t have been clearer that Emily Kaldwin needed to be stopped, yet she couldn’t thing of a single thing she could do to that end.

Even if they killed Emily, the plan would be carried out anyway - wouldn’t it?  The whale oil shipments were already happening, the guards were already told their part of the plan.  From what Billie could tell, the day that this was supposed to happen was already planned on, and everything was on schedule.  What could they do to prevent this catastrophe?

She closed her eyes and let out a breath, trying to still her racing heart.  When she opened them again, it was to an unfamiliar room.

The relief that flooded her was almost enough to make her fall asleep, but it was tempered by her realization that time was still passing in that other world - only now, she couldn’t do anything there.  No doubt Daud was now noticing that she’d passed out again, and was probably cursing her out for abandoning him.

_ This wasn’t my choice, Daud, _ she thought.

She sat up slowly, aware of the adverse affects that the shifts were having on her body.  As she suspected, a wave of dizziness hit her, and her stomach cramped up hard, though she noticed that there was a half-eaten bowl of broth on her bedside table.  Someone had been in here, trying to feed her and keep her comfortable.

The walls were covered in an expensive-looking wallpaper, and the bed and bedside table were both of fine make.  She hadn’t slept on a mattress this comfortable in a while, and she was fairly certain that the rug cost more than the Dreadful Wale.  Sunlight streamed in through the windows, and she could just make out the wooden slats making up a barrier in the distance, which told her where she was.

Still in Aramis’ manor, it would seem.

Billie was slow in rising to her feet, preparing for another wave of dizziness.  It hit her, harder than it had the first time, and she grimaced as she grabbed onto the bedframe to steady herself.  

The broth was still lukewarm, so Billie sipped at it and waited to see if her stomach would rebel.  It didn’t, so she continued to eat it until there was none left.  Her white coat was hung from a coathook next to the door, and she pulled it on, wondering when Aramis’ manor had gotten so cold.  At least this time, she wasn’t plagued by visions of what had happened here.  Which she still didn’t understand.

She was staring out the window at the courtyard below her when the door creaked open.

“Meagan!”

Billie turned, blinking in surprise as Alexandria hurried into the room, relief plain on her face.  “You were gone for so very long this time, I was afraid that - “

“I’m alright,” Billie replied.  “Hungry, but alright.”

“Of course, you must be starving - follow me.”

Alexandria led the way through Stilton’s manor, apparently unbothered by the way certain objects wavered in the air, as though they were only mirages.  Nothing like what Billie had seen when she was here before, but enough to make her skin crawl.  For whatever reason, Stilton’s manor was worse off than everywhere else.  

She still didn’t feel the usual pressure from the Void, though it was always there.  She didn’t feel weightless either, though, but she didn’t have time to ponder why that was.

Alexandria took her to the kitchens, where they were able to get a loaf of bread and a plantain.  Billie was careful not to eat too quickly, but she felt much improved after the simple meal.  The kitchen staff gave her curious looks as they worked, and Billie realized that she didn’t recognize anyone she knew on Aramis’ staff.

When she asked Alexandria about it, she only said, “Much of Aramis’ staff quit recently.  The reasons were all very mysterious - though maybe less mysterious now, given what we know about your condition.  Odd hallucinations, memories that couldn’t have happened.  Aramis himself hasn’t been feeling well lately, either, though he hasn’t called on me to help him.”

Billie nodded, still chewing on the bread.  It made some sense, considering what she’d seen while she was here.  What it didn’t explain was why  _ she  _ was the one who was actively switching between worlds - sure, the others affected saw glimpses of it, but nothing to the extent of what she’d been through.  Why her?

“I know that Aramis wanted to speak to you as soon as you were awake,” Alexandria said.  “Are you feeling up for it?”

After the chaos that always seemed to unfold when Billie switched to the other world, speaking to an old friend sounded like a walk in the park.  She nodded again, following Alexandria through the manor until they reached the elevator.  They took it to the second floor, exiting just a few feet shy of Aramis’ study, and Billie smiled when she saw her friend seated behind his desk.

Aramis stood, beaming.  “Meagan!  It’s been too long.”  He pulled her in for a hug, and Billie relaxed, burying her face in his shoulder.  She was still the first to pull away, not quite willing to admit to herself that she had sorely needed that hug.

“I hear protecting the Empress has kept you busy,” he said.  “What brings you to Karnaca?  Something I can help you with?  You certainly gave my staff a scare when they found you passed out in the courtyard.”

She grimaced.  “Sorry about that.  It’s... a part of the reason why I’m here, though.”

Billie had no doubt that she could trust Aramis, just as she’d had no doubt about trusting Alexandria.  It was for that reason that she asked Alexandria to stay for their conversation, and she began recounting what she had been through in the past few months.  Aramis listened with a grave look on his face, and it was during that time that Billie noticed the dark pits beneath his eyes.

“I admit it doesn’t sound unfamiliar,” he said.  He gave her an exhausted smile.  “I dream of my death nightly.”

Next to Billie, Alexandria straightened.  “You as well?”

“Yes.”  He sighed.  “Something has been wrong here ever since the Duke used my manor for his cursed seance - though it didn’t escalate until recently.  Before it was only things out of the corner of your eye, something you’d attribute to your imagination.  Since things started to get worse, however, I’ve had multiple incidents of people screaming about bloodflies.”

The mention of bloodflies reminded Billie of the Empress’ plan in the other world, and she shuddered.  No doubt Aramis’ mansion was infested there.

“It was... a seance,” Alexandria murmured, sounding like she was half in a trance.  “To bring Delilah back from the Void.”

It seemed to take her a moment to realize that Aramis and Billie were both staring at her, and she blinked.  “I was there, I think.  Or Grim Alex was there.  We stood in a circle and we... we pulled her out, somehow.  I remember thinking that... she was going to make things  _ fun _ ...”

For those last few words, Alexandria’s tone took on a darker edge, and Billie stiffened.  Alexandria noticed.

“I’m alright,” she said, sending Billie a wan smile.  “It’s harder to figure out where she ends and I begin when I’m reliving her memories.  That’s the only time I’ve ever seen Delilah Kaldwin - sorry, Copperspoon - in person.  I remember her saying some strange things after she came out of the Void, but... the words aren’t coming to me now.  It’s like wading through mud.”

“Don’t push yourself, Alexandria,” Billie told her.  

“No promises.”

The quip caught Billie by surprise, and she snorted.  

“At any rate,” Alexandria continued, “Aramis here was gracious even to lend me a room to use as a workshop.  I think that I should have the device built soon, then we might have a better clue as to how this is affecting you, Meagan.  I’m going to use it to try to scan the manor as well, since things seem to be worse here.  If you’ll both excuse me.”

Billie watched her go, making a mental note to check up on her later.  

“That woman gives, and gives, and gives,” Aramis stated.  “I don’t think I’ve ever met someone with a bigger heart.”

“I agree with you there,” Billie said.  “You got any cigars, by any chance?”

Aramis grinned at her.  “Just when I was thinking I might need a break from this infernal paperwork.  You know me so well, Meagan.”

They went to the back courtyard, each puffing a cigar.  Billie had done her best to kick the habit after becoming the Royal Protector, but after the week she’d had, she felt justified in indulging herself.  She remained quiet while Aramis vented about his and Lucia Pastor’s efforts to fight off the mine’s investors, who still wanted the miners to be worked harder.  She raised both eyebrows when she learned that Lucia had been the target of two assassination attempts - both of which failed, though Aramis didn’t know the details.

“And she keeps going and going,” Aramis said.  “I don’t know how she does it.”

“I think that Lucia Pastor has more balls than most people with actual balls,” Billie pointed out.

Aramis barked out a laugh.  “That’s a fine way of putting it.”

They continued to talk of mundane things - Aramis’ running of the mines, Billie’s time as Royal Protector.  It all seemed so trivial compared to dealing with the Void, and it was a relief to take her mind off of that for a few hours.  It helped that they were in the back courtyard, where the shimmer of the Void was less obvious.

Eventually, the setting sun reminded both of them that dinner was approaching, though Billie wasn’t yet hungry enough to risk eating something again.  She waved Aramis away, saying that she wanted to stay outside and enjoy the fresh air.

It occurred to her, as she watched the shadows lengthen, that Emily should have received her letter by now.  She checked her pocketwatch, staring as the hands ticked closer and closer to ten o’ clock.  One of Aramis’ staff came outside to light the lamps, bathing the back courtyard in a warm glow.

When ten o’ clock finally came, Billie imagined.  She imagined that Emily was right there beside her, that she wasn’t miles away in Dunwall.  In a way, she supposed, she was - though she had no way of knowing for sure if Emily was seeing out of her eyes right now.  She imagined that Emily was huffing, now, waiting for her to start talking.

“Emily,” she said, pausing once to check that she was alone.  “I’ve missed you.”

She wasn’t really sure where to go from there.  Talking had never been her strongest suit, and one of the best parts of being with Emily had been their ability to communicate with nothing more than a look.  She owed it to Emily - and to herself - to try, though.

“Things aren’t going well,” she admitted.  “I’m not in any immediate danger, but...”

She turned around to look at Aramis’ manor, careful to stare at how it shifted in the light.  She didn’t know if it was possible for Emily to see what she saw - if she was confused as to why Billie felt the need to look at Aramis’ house.  She turned around again, unwilling to look for very long.

“Hypatia’s working on a way to... look at the Void,” she continued.  “She thinks she’ll have a better idea of what’s wrong with me after she uses her machine on me.  I know, I was surprised that she could work in mechanics too.  She’s been having some problems of her own lately, but she seems to be doing well otherwise.  None of us - by us I mean me, Aramis, and Hypatia - have been getting enough sleep, though.”

Billie swallowed back a sob.  “Void, I wish you were here.”

It all came spilling out of her after that - the other world, though she left out what Emily was like there, seeing Daud again for the first time, only to find out that he hadn’t intended to spare her life.  How weak the shifts made her feel, since she had to be unconscious in one world in order to go to the other.  How everything seemed to converge on Aramis’ manor, or maybe it was converging on her.

“Listen to me,” she said, once she was finished with her explanation.  “I know you, and I know that right now you’re probably halfway to arranging to come to Karnaca.  Don’t.  I don’t understand what’s going on down here, except that it’s bad.  I don’t want you in the middle of this.”

She could almost see Emily’s suspicious frown, and continued with, “Don’t worry about me.  My life doesn’t seem to be in any danger - just my fucking sanity.”

Another pause, then: “Good luck with whatever parliament’s fighting you about nowadays.  I love you.”

She hoped that it was clear to Emily that that was a dismissal.  She turned and went back inside.

* * *

 

Hypatia’s finished machine took up a good portion of the room.  It was a circle of... pillars, Billie supposed, each one topped with - again - something that looked uncomfortably similar to an arc pyon.  A person was meant to stand in the center, which did absolutely nothing to reassure Billie, instead reminding her of the setup for the ritual to find Talsin.  That was when this whole mess had started.

Wasn’t it?

“You’re sure this is safe?” Billie asked.

“To be completely honest?” Alexandria said.  “No.  I’m as sure as I can be given what I know, but the Void is an unknown entity.  It might react negatively to this kind of interaction.”

Billie was half-expecting the Outsider himself to appear and demand that they stop what they were doing, but she wasn’t surprised when the deity kept quiet.  His actions in throwing her back to the other world were confusing, but apparently trying to use a machine to find out exactly what was wrong with Billie wasn’t enough to concern him.

Alexandria gestured wordlessly for Billie to stand in the center.  She did so, not without trepidation.  

“Theoretically you shouldn’t notice anything while the machine is running,” Alexandria said.  “In case you do, and you feel like it needs to be turned off, there’s a kill switch here.”  She indicated a button on one of the pillars, within arm’s length if Billie stood in the center.  “The process shouldn’t take more than a minute.  And I can at least guarantee that we won’t be tearing open any more holes in the universe.”

Aramis was standing in the corner of the room, frowning.  He was there at Billie’s invitation, mostly because she knew he would fret otherwise.  He’d been unsure of Alexandria’s plan when he first heard of it, though Billie knew that he was mostly just worried about her.

“Are you ready?” Hypatia asked her.  “We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”

What Billie wanted more than anyting was to figure this thing out, so she moved to stand in the center of the circle and gave Hypatia a short nod.

“Breathe,” Hypatia instructed, and then turned the machine on.  

At first, Billie noticed nothing more than a low hum in the air.  Then she felt the Void tickling at the back of her mind, though it was nowhere near as strong as it was when she lapsed.  She heard a gasp, and looked over to where Aramis was staring at her, before she stared down at herself.

Her body was enveloped in shadows.

She inhaled sharply, watching as the inky blackness appeared to be spilling from someplace in her chest.  The shadows also seemed to be leaking from her arm, and she had a sudden suspicion that they were coming from her right eye as well.  All around her, wherever the shadows touched, the world became distorted; if she looked hard enough, she could see the skeletal caricature that was her arm in the other world, and her vision started to flicker red.

“Turn it off!” ordered Stilton, sounding panicked.  “Turn it off, Alexandria!”

Abruptly the humming was cut off, and Billie could no longer see the darkness.  She looked up to see Hypatia staring at her with an ashen expression.  

“What does it mean?” Billie asked.

Hypatia shook her head slowly.  “I’m... not really sure.”  For one wild moment, Billie wanted to grab her and shake her.  “Originally I’d assumed that you were being affected by a space-time distortion of some kind, and that the machine might point to where it was, but... from what I can tell, you  _ are  _ the space-time distortion.”

“Okay, but what does that  _ mean _ ?”

“In the simplest of terms: it means that you’re here, but that it’s also impossible for you to be here.”

It wasn’t the craziest idea Billie had ever heard.  She was, apparently, able to travel between worlds.  That did not mean, however, that it was easy for her to wrap her head around.

“So I’m causing all of this,” she surmised.

“I wouldn’t say that,” Alexandria said.  “My dreams began long before you arrived here.”

“You are not the cause.”

The world around Billie froze.  The Outsider was standing next to Alexandria, studying the contraption she’d used.  He appeared more apathetic than he had the last time, though the fact that he was apparently willing to give her answers wasn’t something Billie would ever have expected of him.

“The cause,” he continued, turning to face her, “Was a small, seemingly insignificant act of mercy perpetrated three years ago.”

“What?” Billie demanded.  “What’s that - “

She stopped.  She remembered the visions she had seen, before - of one Emily merely stealing Stilton’s journal, and the other knocking him out with a sleep dart first.  She remembered seeing the other version of Stilton, the one whose mind was destroyed.  And she remembered coming to his manor on that same night to meet with him.  In one memory, she walked out unscathed.  In another, a grenade exploded and took her arm and eye with it.

“ _ Emily _ did this?” she asked.

“Not purposefully,” the Outsider said.  “She had no way of knowing the consequences of her actions beyond that things would change in the present.  Imagine her surprise when she emerged to find that your arm and eye had been restored.”

“Why didn’t she tell me?”

It was that that hurt more than anything else.  That Emily might have had some inkling of what was wrong with her, and didn’t tell her - 

“Because she forgot,” the Outsider said.  “This place - the mansion where it all happened - is the only place where the truth still exists.  The truth that you saw, before you switched.  Oh, but soon she’ll start to remember.  She’ll have dreams of a time when she was on your ship, and your arm and eye were gone.”

Billie clenched her fists.  “Why do I feel like that’s not a good thing?”

The Outsider smiled.  “You have good instincts, Billie Lurk.  Trust them.”

“What - “

Abruptly the Outsider vanished, and the world blurred around Billie.  Then she was facing Daud once again, the thunderous look on his face almost making her flinch.

He didn’t even seem to realize that she was awake again, whirling around at her and snarling, “It’s  _ his  _ fucking fault.”

Billie, too disoriented to really think about what she was going to say, merely slurred out, “Whose fault is what?”

“The black-eyed bastard’s,” Daud said.  He looked ready to rip something apart.  “It’s his fault that this shit is happening to you.”

“Daud, it’s not, it’s -”

“We have to kill him.”

Billie spluttered.  “ _ What _ ?”

“Billie you don’t understand,” Daud said, his voice turning pleading for the first time.  “If we kill  _ him _ , we save  _ you _ .”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The High Chaos timeline should really be called the No Chill Whatsoever timeline.


	10. Part IX

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, as it turns out, we do incorporate a little bit of DOTO stuff into this chapter. Nothing too major, though.

 “He came to me.  Told me about what happened to make you like this.  He told me that he’s the one who gave Emily Kaldwin the means to meddle with time, and created a crack in the world that he couldn’t fix.”

Billie raised both eyebrows.  The Outsider had left out that particular detail.  Still -

“And how is killing him supposed to fix anything?” she asked.

She wondered, for a moment, if the two separate worlds (timelines, she supposed) had two separate Outsiders.  It did seem odd that both would choose to tell someone the truth at roughly the same time.  She also wondered if the Outsider from this world was the same as the one from her world - or if he, too, had been changed into a worse version of himself.  She imagined him laughing at her silent speculation, and barely repressed a shudder.

Daud seemed to falter, for the first time.  “He didn’t tell me how.”

Billie was taken aback.  “Wait, the Outsider told you to kill him?”

“He didn’t give me specifics, but yes,” Daud said.  “You already have the Knife that could do the job, and frankly, I’m pissed off enough at him that I wouldn’t mourn all that much.  You weren’t directly involved, Billie - a bystander, at worst.  And yet here you are, the focal point of this mess.”

“Let’s stop and think before we make any rash decisions about killing a god,” Billie said, struggling to keep her voice from rising.  “For all we know, this could only make things worse.”

“Things are already getting worse!”

“Never assume you’ve hit rock bottom,” Billie snapped.  “There’s always a little more innocence left to lose.”

Daud grimaced at that, probably because there was a truth to her words that he didn’t want to acknowledge.  Billie herself wasn’t entirely sure why she’d said it; ordinarily she left the philosophical bullshit to people with more time on their hands.

“Why would the Outsider tell you this?” she asked.

“Void if I know,” muttered Daud.  “There was a moment, where you started to... I don’t know how to describe it.  Like there was darkness leaking out of you.  I didn’t know what it meant, but I thought that you were dying.  It stopped quickly, and he showed up after that to tell me about the role he played in all of this.  Something about traveling through time, and how it splintered because Emily Kaldwin made one little decision.”

“Yes, and _Emily_ was the one who made that decision.”

Daud snorted.  “Maybe so, but did the Outsider really need to give her a tool that would allow her to travel back and forth between the past and the present?  There’s no logic to that.  It’s one thing to give people magic powers.  It’s another to give them the means to mess with time itself - stopping time notwithstanding.”

Billie couldn’t argue with that.  

“Hypatia says that I’m a space-time distortion,” Billie told him.  “That’s what you saw earlier - she used a machine to... I don’t know, scan me, or something.  She says it means that I’m here, but it’s also impossible for me to be here.”

“Not that that does you a lot of good.”

“In the other world, my eye and my arm aren’t Void-based caricatures,” Billie said.  “I think that the reason why I’m able to travel between the two timelines might be because I was more physically affected by the change in the past that anyone else.  In one timeline a grenade burned them until they had to be removed.  In another, nothing happened.”

Daud let out a hiss when she mentioned the grenade.  Evidently he hadn’t known how it happened.

“This is the kind of shit I left Dunwall to get away from,” he muttered.

“You and me both.”

Billie stood up and started pacing, not unlike what Daud had been doing before she went back to the other timeline.  Her more skeletal hand clasped her flesh one, and she resisted the urge to touch her inhuman eye, not allowing herself to wonder whether she would ever be rid of these things.  Though her memories of being Meagan Foster in this timeline were scattered, she remembered enough to know that she preferred being without them, regardless of the additional powers they afforded her.

She didn’t want this to be her responsibility.  She didn’t want to have to go the rest of her life knowing she could pass out at any time, and find herself in a hostile timeline.

Billie pushed those thoughts aside.  Easier not to dwell, for now.

“I wasn’t gone as long,” Billie said.  “Anything new?”

“No,” Daud answered.  “I haven’t left since you passed out.  But I have a few ideas about how, if we can’t stop her majesty, we can at least try to mitigate the damage.  The Empress didn’t kill everyone with influence here.”

Billie raised both eyebrows.  “What did you have in mind?”

“I’ve been keeping in touch with what’s left of the Howlers since I came to Karnaca.  As I’m sure you can imagine, they’re not too pleased with Emily killing their leader.  Paolo was no saint, but he at least guaranteed some safety for the people under his protection.  We’re going to see the new leader later today.”

Billie had a suspicion about who that might be, but didn’t comment on that.  “So you think they’ll help us?”

“They _can_ ,” Daud said.  “I don’t know if they _will_.”

“Not exactly reassuring, but I’ll take it.”

They spent the rest of the morning gathering up the little that they planned to take with them.  Billie put a few leftover figs into her satchel, but other than that she had nothing more than the clothes she’d worn when she got thrown off the Dreadful Wale.  Daud didn’t even pack any food, though he had scavenged a new jacket to replace the one he lost during the fight.

They were both easily recognizable from the wanted posters that were floating around the city, so Billie stuck to rooftops while Daud moved in the shadows of the street below her.  The Howlers were still headquartered in the Crone’s Hand, but were struggling to maintain the same kind of influence as before - a symptom of how far Karnaca had fallen since Emily regained her crown.

As Billie Displaced herself from rooftop to rooftop, she pondered her reasoning in continuing to help Emily, even after it had become clear that the Empress was a force of terror, not justice.  She remembered that part of her life a bit more clearly, and knew that it was partially due to her guilt over Jessamine Kaldwin’s death, but it had also been because of some willful ignorance on her part.  

Billie, in this timeline, had been convinced that Emily was doing it to get the job done, and leave no witnesses.  Her rule before the coup had been lazy, not malicious, and Billie figured that the worst that could happen was things would go back to the way they were before.  Her hope had risen, somewhat, when Emily told her that she was planning on changing things when she went back to Dunwall.  Maybe that meant that, in spite of all the blood spilled, the Isles would be better off.

And then there had been her other reason: she’d wanted Luca Abele dead.  Simple as that.  Mistakes always seemed to repeat themselves.

The Crone’s Hand was half-buried in dust when they arrived.  Billie slipped into the top floor, which was half-exposed to the elements and deserted.  Using Foresight told her that most of the Howlers were occupying the second and third floors of the saloon, with the first having been lost.  There weren’t many there - most were either patrolling outside or in other parts of the city - but the ones that were were armed to the teeth.

Billie knew it was in her and Daud’s best interests not to startle them.  She stayed on the fourth floor, watching as Daud approached the saloon out in the open, keeping his pace slow.  Eventually one of the second floor windows opened, and a woman barely into her twenties slid down the pile of dust, approaching him.

Billie couldn’t hear the exchange between the two, but she assumed that it went well, because the woman beckoned for Daud to follow her.  As soon as her back was turned, Daud signaled Billie, and she began to make her way through the third floor, using Semblance to impersonate one of the Howlers.

It wasn’t hard to find Daud - every Howler was trying to get a look at him, curious about the Knife of Dunwall.  Even the older, more seasoned members of the gang, who were hanging back trying to look nonchalant, were glancing in his direction every so often.  Billie joined the throng, watching as the Howler led Daud to a room that she assumed was the leader’s office.

Daud entered alone, but Billie had just enough time before the door closed to Displace inside.

She wasn’t surprised to see Mindy Blanchard lounging in the desk chair, though Mindy nearly fell out of her chair at Billie’s sudden appearance.

“Fuck,” Mindy cursed.  To her credit, that was the extent of her reaction.  “What in the Void happened to you?”

Referring to Billie’s eye and arm, obviously.  Billie replied with, “Would you believe me if I said that I don’t know?”

“No,” Mindy said, then added, “Maybe.  So, Captain Foster - what’s a lady like you doing with a washed-up has-been like the Knife of Dunwall?”

“Trying to save this Void-foresaken city.”

Mindy smirked, crossing her arms.  “Now I’ve heard it all.”

“We’re being serious, Blanchard,” Daud said.  “I dunno if your people know this, but the Empress is here.”

Mindy stilled.  There was a deliberate, taut way that she held herself in that moment, one that made even Billie want to take a step back.  She’d heard the rumors of Mindy Blanchard skinning an Overseer alive, but she’d never really believed it.  Until now.

“You’d better not be having me on,” Mindy said.

“Does it look like we’re joking?” Billie demanded.

“No official announcements,” Mindy muttered to herself.  “No forewarning.  No sign of her whatsoever.”  She looked between the two of them.  “What’s she up to?  Whatever she’s doing here, it’s obvious that you need my help to stop it.  Although if you want me to help you kill her, you’ll have to get in line.”

“If we get the chance to kill her, the honor’s all yours,” Daud said.  “But that’s not our goal.”

They took turns explaining Emily’s plans to Mindy, starting with Billie and what she had found at the Grand Palace (“You mean the Grand Ruin?” Mindy had asked), and ending with Daud laying out his plan to use the Howlers to prevent the worst of it.

“Shit,” Mindy swore, when they finished explaining.  “Shit, fuck.  Yeah, we’ll do what we can.  But I can’t promise anything.  It’s gotten harder and harder for us to get around lately, what with the Grand Guard cracking down on us.  Another thing to thank her majesty for, I guess.”

“We don’t need to fight the Grand Guard,” Daud told her.  “The Empress’ plan relies on secrecy.  She can’t post too many guards around the areas where she’s placing whale oil or it’ll look suspicious.  Hell, even the Grand Guard don’t know the full story.  They probably think that she’s just stocking up on supplies.”

“All this over a few bloodflies,” Mindy drawled.  “She took back an empire all on her own and some bugs are going to scare her?”

That was an understatement on the bloodfly situation if ever Billie had heard one, but the bravado was obviously there to hide Mindy’s fear.  Emily was a very real threat, and one that had a knack for following through on her plans, no matter who (or what) tried to stop her.  Billie knew that.  Daud knew that.  Mindy knew it too, in a more roundabout way.

“So,” Mindy said, sitting up for the first time.  “How do you wanna do this?”

* * *

 

Credit where credit was due - Emily had, at least, placed the whale oil tanks next to buildings that were infested.  That didn’t mean that the nearby homes where people still lived would be unaffected, though.

Billie was perched on top of a streetlamp, able to see her group of Howlers crouched in an alley below her and to her right.  The Royal Conservatory was to her left, currently taken up by Overseers because of the discovery of Breanna Ashworth’s more heretical occupation.  There were only a few patrolling outside the Conservatory, but there were enough that they would attack if they spotted Howlers.

The key building in this case was directly across from the Conservatory.  The front door was completely blocked by bloodfly nests, their buzzing audible even from where Billie perched.  The first time she used Foresight, she’d blanched at the sheer amount of the insects inside - and on the neighboring roof.  

The whale oil tanks were spread around the outside of the building, as well as in the neighboring building, which had no bloodflies inside, just on the roof.  If she went far enough, she realized that there were some in the Conservatory as well, since the third floor appeared to be infested.  

Reluctant as she was to admit it, it was a stroke of genius on Emily’s part.  Most people associated whale oil with power, and would be relieved to see the amount that Emily was bringing into the city.  They’d think it was part of some relief effort, right up until the moment that it exploded.  They had no idea that most of it was too old to be useful as a power source.

She Displaced herself to a street lamp just above the two Overseers who were speaking, heads bent together, in front of the Conservatory.  After place a marker on top of the nearby guard station, Billie dropped down onto one and slammed his head against the stones.  The other let out a shout of alarm, but she had already Displaced to the top of the guard station, where she sleep-darted him.  

His shout was cut off before it could reach the Conservatory courtyard and alert the rest of the Overseers.  The Howlers hurried over to her, grabbing hold of the two Overseers and hiding their bodies in the guard station.

“Where to now, Lurk?” said one of the Howlers - the same young woman who had led Daud into the Crone’s Hand.  

Billie nodded at the apartment building.  “All along the base of the building there are whale oil tanks.  Get them back to the canal, then see if you can clear out the building with the red sign next.  The tanks are on the second floor of that one.  I’m going to take care of the tanks inside the Conservatory, then I’ll meet you back at the canal.”

“You got it,” the woman replied, and the Howlers ran off.  Billie turned her sights on the former museum, scowling when she thought of the number of Overseers she would have to wade through.

_Kill only if you need to,_ she told herself.

She entered through the basement door, using Foresight to scout how many Overseers were ahead of her.  The number was more than a little disheartening, but she soldiered on, quickly acquiring a pile of unconscious Overseers.  The further she got into the basement, the more uneasy she felt, and she wondered if that was what Emily had felt when she made her way through this place.  

When she found the musical therapy chairs, her vision nearly went red.

Billie had never had any great love for the Overseers, but _this_ \- this was torture, disguised as ‘help’.  The Knife materialized in her hand, and she ended up burying it in the eye of the Overseer who was in charge down there.  She stood over his body, staring, until she registered the sound of a frantic woman’s voice.

Revealing herself was a risk - it was possible that it was a panicking Blind Sister - but Foresight revealed someone that almost had Billie tripping over in shock.  She grabbed a key off of the belt of one of the Overseers and hurried past a stack of paintings, finding the door to a cell.  She was quick to unlock it, wrenching it open and hurrying to the person huddled on the floor.

“Ysannifer?” she hissed.  

The woman stiffened, uncurling slightly and watching Billie with narrowed eyes.  “How do you know who I am?” she demanded.  “I told none of these Overseer filth my name.”

The last words were spat with contempt.

“I’m not an Overseer,” Billie told her.  She kept her distance, not wanting to alarm her.  “I’m an intruder, I guess you could say.  Is there anyone else here?”

Ysannifer shook her head, her eyes wild.  “Everyone else is gone.  I’m the only one left.  The Overseers say that they’re impressed with my ‘progress’.  Bastards just mean that I’ve lasted longer than anyone else.  We all know that I’m going to die, just like the rest.”

“You’re not going to die,” Billie said.  “There’s a clear path to the basement exit, and there aren’t any Overseers outside.  If you run now, you’re free.”

Ysannifer through her head back and laughed.  “And where will I go?  This rotten city will be coming to an end soon.  I’ve overheard the Overseers - apparently the blind bitches have foreseen it.”

Billie stiffened, not sure what to make of that.  The Overseers knew, and they weren’t making any moves to flee?  That seemed suspect.  Something else she would probably have to investigate while she was here.  

For now, though -

“I’ve got a group of people outside,” Billie said.  “They’re pretty, um... distinctive.  Tell them that Billie Lurk sent you, and ask about Daud.  They shouldn’t harm you if you do that.”

She couldn’t guarantee that, of course - they hadn’t bothered to come up with some kind of code.  Even she hadn’t thought that this would turn into some kind of rescue mission, but as wary of Ysannifer as she was in the other world, the witch didn’t deserve this.

Her stomach turned over at the thought of someone like Talsin suffering the same fate.

Ysannifer didn’t miss her wording.  “They _shouldn’t_?”

“I can’t make any guarantees, but it’s your best shot.”

Ysannifer pursed her lips, adopting a haughty expression and looking a bit more like the Ysannifer that Billie knew.  How she’d ended up in Karnaca instead of Dunwall was a mystery, but Billie wasn’t about to question it; she was just thankful that she was able save someone in this damned timeline.

“Very well,” Ysannifer bit out.  She managed to straighten her shoulders as she walked out of the cell, but Billie noticed that her hands were shaking.

She watched Ysannifer pick her way through the piles of museum artifacts that the Overseers had collected for examination until the witch was out of sight, then did her best to put Ysannifer out of her mind.  She still had to figure out a way to get the whale oil tanks (of which there were ten) off the third floor, down into the basement, and then out of the conservatory to where the Howlers would be waiting.

Getting to the third floor was the easy part; it was a simple matter to track the Overseers’ movements with Foresight and plan her own movements accordingly.  She could only move one whale oil tank at a time, however, which meant that it would be slow going.  The fact that she had to carry it with both her hands meant that her use of her powers was limited as well.

She could’ve sworn that she didn’t even breathe when she was moving the first four, too wary of alerting the Overseers to her presence.  The fifth went a bit easier, as she finally got used to their patrol patterns and figured out which Overseers were occupied with tasks other than security.

While she was carrying the seventh tank, Billie turned a corner on the first floor and found herself face-to-face with an Overseer.

There was a split second where they were both staring at one another, frozen.  

Billie didn’t have many options, so she threw down the whale oil tank at the Overseer’s feet and activated Foresight a split second before it impacted.  She Displaced herself to the top of a nearby chandelier at the same moment that time resumed, and grimaced as the explosion rang in her ears.

So much for stealth.

She had to make a decision, and fast - the Overseers would start searching the Conservatory as soon as they came upon the blast site, and sooner or later they’d find her stockpile of whale oil, as well as the pile of unconscious Overseers in the basement.  She frowned again at the idea that came into her head: would destroying the Conservatory be enough of a warning for people?

It would mean that Overseers wouldn’t survive.

Billie wondered just when she’d grown a conscience, especially since she’d just found out what the Overseers were doing to the remnants of Delilah’s coven.  Maybe she was just tired of all the bloodshed.  Or maybe that was how the version of her from the other timeline - the better one - felt.  She couldn’t tell anymore.  

Billie cursed herself, and turned her eyes skyward.

She’d heard a few of the Overseers saying that Sister Rosewyn was meeting with other Blind Sisters up on the fourth floor.  Rosewyn was someone with influence.  If Billie could convince her -

She was moving before she really thought about it.  She Displaced herself as quickly as she dared, moving so fast that the Overseers and Oracles she encountered merely blinked in confusion.  Rather than go into the curator’s office through the front door, Billie Displaced herself up to the ledges on the fourth floor, slipping inside through a window.  

She found one of the Overseers - this one without his mask to cover his face - arguing with a Blind Sister.  

“I am sorry, Brother Cardoza, but Sister Rosewyn is currently occupied.  You were informed of the change in time of your meeting earlier today.”

Cardoza was scowling, but he relented.  “Very well.  Please notify Sister Rosewyn that I must speak with her as soon as possible.”

“Of course, brother.”

Cardoza went back into his workshop, allowing Billie to slip past and head for the Blind Sister.  She caught a brief glimpse of his ‘research’, and felt her stomach turn over when she recognized the witch on the table as Marta.  Once again, she found herself fervently wishing that Talsin wasn’t involved in this timeline.

It was easy to use Semblance on the Blind Sister.  Billie slowed her gait and straightened her back as she exited out onto the terrace.  She hadn’t had much time to study how the Oracular Sisters walked, but she emulated what she had seen as best as she could.

The voices of two women echoed through the terrace, and Billie nearly froze in place as she recognized one of them.

“What I have seen _will_ come to pass, your majesty.”

“Your visions have been fooled once before, Sister Rosewyn,” Emily replied scornfully.  “Why, I believe the evidence of that is in this very building.”

Billie had a good enough view to see Rosewyn bristling.  “If you have any knowledge of another device like the Oraculum, then please, enlighten me.”

“Why would I?” Emily asked, her smile sharp as a razor.  “Sometimes it’s enough to see you squirm.”

To Billie’s surprise, Rosewyn sighed, bowing her head.  “I understand that the Abbey will never have your forgiveness for the execution of your father - “

Billie drew in breath sharply, another memory surfacing that she’d forgotten.  Emily, spending the last five years on her throne alone, because the Overseers had found out about Corvo Attano’s Mark and executed him.  It was enough for her to wonder - would things have been better, or worse if he was still alive?  Emily may have benefited from her father being alive and well, but Billie remembered hearing the rumors about the Masked Felon massacring nobles at a party, and even one rumor that he had managed to kill Daud.

She’d asked Daud, earlier.  He’d laughed, and said, “There was no lack of trying on Attano’s part.”

“Your following here in Karnaca is the last vestige of the Abbey,” Emily said.  “But only because of your compliance with my demands.  I am going ahead with the plan, regardless of what your visions may have revealed.  Your Brother Cardoza seems almost eager for it to happen.”

Rosewyn’s lips thinned.  “I am not so foolish as to believe that you will allow us to escape, your majesty.”

“And that, Lena, is why you are in charge, and not him.”

Rosewyn didn’t reply.  Instead, her gaze traveled to where Billie stood, still frozen in surprise from seeing Emily here.  Billie quickly shook herself, straightening up under Rosewyn’s scrutiny.  

“What is it, Sister Jaisa?”

Billie was careful to keep her voice slow and calm.  “Brother Cardoza wishes to speak with you as soon as you are able.”

Emily’s sharp gaze had also turned on Billie.  Billie was careful not to look at her, feeling as though making eye contact with the Empress would give her away.  She kept her eyes trained on Rosewyn, who eventually sighed and nodded.

“Very well.  Come here, Sister Jaisa.”  She paused.  “I understand if, after hearing that conversation, your willingness to bow to her majesty is somewhat chafed.  But it would still be wise to do so.”

Billie looked over at Emily, who was still watching her.  There was a small smile on Emily’s face, and a prickle of unease went down her spine.  Billie gave a stiff bow regardless, hoping that it was enough.  

“Tell me, Sister Jaisa,” Emily said.  “What do you think of the plan?”

Billie didn’t miss a beat.

“Why aren’t you allowing the citizens to escape first, if this truly is the only way to stop the bloodflies?”

“Sister,” Rosewyn said warningly, but Emily held up a hand.

“It’s a fair question, Lena.”  The gesture and the words were so like Delilah that Billie felt almost ill for a moment.  “The simple answer being that the bloodflies aren’t the only pests in this city.”

Billie almost wanted to shake her head.  Her Emily wouldn’t say something like this, wouldn’t look down on her own people as though they were merely insects compared to her.  It was on the tip of her tongue to ask an even more brash question, such as whether the Outsider approved of such methods, but she kept her jaw clenched to prevent herself from speaking.

“I see your underling has run out of opinions, Lena,” Emily said.

Rosewyn nodded at Billie.  “You are dismissed.”

Billie left the terrace, cursing herself all the while.  If Rosewyn was in on the plan, then that meant that warning her was utterly pointless.  She had a feeling that talking to Cardoza wasn’t an option either, considering his ‘experiments’.  

Emily was here.  She might not get another chance.

She hurried back down to the basement, continuing with her charade as a Blind Sister.  No one paid her any mind when she entered the basement, as the Overseers deferred to their Sisters in the Oracular Order, and she breathed a sigh of relief when she found it still deserted.  

Whale oil burned quickly, so Billie wouldn’t have much time to get away from the explosion.  She suspected that it would decimate the basement, and probably cause the first floor to collapse through the ground.  She hoped that the building’s foundations were weak enough that the second, third, and fourth floors would follow suit.  

Billie got rid of the Semblance and went to the basement door, loading a voltaic shot into her wristbow.  The part of her from the other timeline fought her for a moment, before she released the shot, activating Foresight at the same time.

Time was frozen just before the bolt hit the nearest tank, and Billie was able to put a Displace marker further away from the building.  She hesitated only a moment before deactivating Foresight, Displacing herself immediately.

The explosion still knocked her off her feet.

She flew at least six meters after Displacing, just barely having the presence of mind to tuck herself into a roll as she hit cobblestones.  She was dazed only for a moment, then she was struggling to stand as she looked at the Conservatory, trying to see the results of her actions.

Fire was already leaping up out of the first-floor windows.  She blinked in surprise when another, smaller explosion blew out the windows on the third floor, realizing that the first had been large enough to trigger the three remaining whale oil tanks on that floor.  The building groaned, already unstable, and Billie thought she could hear shouting from the upper floors.

Her heart sank when a silhouette appeared on the rooftop.  She Displaced herself behind a column across the street just as Emily Reached over to the top of one of the lamp posts.  

Billie remembered Dark Vision too late.

She barely had time to react when Emily pulled herself over to her, as though she hadn’t been hiding at all.  She deflected a few of Emily’s blows before Emily managed to get in a strike, hitting Billie’s sword hard enough to knock it from her hand.  

The next thing she knew, there was a blade to her throat, and Emily’s face was inches from hers.

“Who else knows?” Emily hissed.

“Like you wouldn’t just kill me anyway.”

Emily bared her teeth in a snarl.  “You won’t know that unless you tell me.”

Billie bared her teeth, prepared for the blade to slice through her carotid at any moment.  She remembered the same sensation happening at Daud’s hands in this world, remembered being surprised by just how much it had hurt.  She was older, now, and weaker in some ways - but she wasn’t afraid.

A shout from their left surprised both of them, and then Daud was there, slamming into Emily’s side.  Mindy wasn’t far behind, wielding two knives instead of a sword, keeping to the edge of the ferocious fight and helping when she could.  Billie, meanwhile, sat up with a gasp, once again finding herself in one of Aramis’ guest rooms.

“ _No_ ,” she hissed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should probably lay off the cliffhangers one of these days.


	11. Part X

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things start to ramp up really fast in this chapter. Maybe too fast? I'm not sure.

She had to get back.  She had to find some way back, because she couldn’t stand the thought of herself lying in a heap on the ground while Daud and Mindy fought to protect her.  She hated the idea of being so helpless in front of someone who was hell-bent on killing her.  She found herself clenching her left fist, and then flinching when she accidentally morphed into a shadow, quickly reverting herself back to normal.

Billie left the room in a hurry, hoping she could find Alexandria and ask her if it was possible for her to go to the other timeline voluntarily.  She headed to Aramis’ study first, and barged inside to find a scene that she hadn’t been expecting.

Alexandria was standing off to the side with a bemused look on her face.  Aramis was seated behind his desk, wearing a similar expression.  In front of his desk, pacing back and forth and speaking a mile a minute, was Talsin.

“ - and if we don’t act  _ now  _ \- “

She stopped when she caught sight of Billie, gaping for a few moments before her face broke out into a relieved smile.  “Lady Foster!” she said.  “Thank goodness you’re awake.  You need to help me convince them.”

Billie took a few cautious steps forward into the room.  “It’s good to see you Talsin.  Convince them of... what?  Did Emily send you?”

“Well, no.”  Talsin looked slightly sheepish, glancing nervously at Alexandria.  “A friend sent me.  You know...  _ that  _ friend?”

Billie refrained from rolling her eyes.  Talsin might as well have just announced that she was sent by the Outsider; her attempt at lying was awful.  Still, Billie couldn’t help but feel a bit worried that the Outsider had felt the need to send his newest Marked all the way to Karnaca.  Then again, a lot of his actions had been confusing of late.

“Okay,” she said.  “Why’d he send you?”

“Can someone please explain?” Alexandria finally asked.

Talsin jumped, as though she’d forgotten that the doctor and Aramis were there.  She turned towards them, looking sheepish.  “I - “

“She’s a friend of mine,” Billie interrupted.  “Talsin, it’s alright.  You can trust them.  They already know about the Void.”

“Oh, good.”  She smiled.  “The Outsider sent me.”

“Yeah, I got that part.”  Billie resisted the urge to roll her eyes, ignoring the way that Alexandria and Aramis looked between her and Talsin with dumbstruck expressions.

“He said that I need to get you into the Void.”

“He - what?”  Now it was Billie’s turn to look dumbstruck.  “Get me into the Void - can’t he just do that himself?”

“I don’t think so,” Talsin said.  “From the way he explained it to me, he can’t bring people there physically.  It only happens when they’re dreaming, and when they’re visiting his shrines, it’s more like a... hallucination, of sorts.”

“What do I need to go into the Void for?”

“He said he would explain when you get there.”

“Wondeful,” Billie grumbled.  

The Outsider’s unwillingness to actually explain anything aside, Billie had known that something like this would need to happen eventually.  But then she thought of the other timeline, and how everything was currently hanging on a tipping point over there.  She needed to get back there and stop Emily before she worried about whatever it was that the Outsider needed her in the Void for.

Talsin waved her hand in front of her eyes, which were filmed over with black when her hand came away.  Billie noticed both Aramis and Alexandria flinch at the sight, while Talsin turned in a full circle around the room, unknowingly biting her lip as she did so.  

“I can see it,” she murmured, almost to herself.  “I can see the Void, here.  That shouldn’t be possible.”

Another wave of her hand, and the darkness receded.  She turned to Aramis, suddenly all business.  “Do you have a tank of whale oil that you can spare?”

Aramis blinked upon being addressed.  “I do,” he answered, after a moment.  “But I’m not going to lend it to you until you explain properly.”

“I - “  Talsin cut herself off, looking frustrated for the first time.  “Meagan’s the focal point, you understand?  The fracture is going to take  _ her  _ first.  Once it does, the rest of the world will follow, and then... there’ll be nothing left.”

“I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

“If you let me do this, it’ll save Meagan.”

Aramis still looked unconvinced, so Billie stepped forward, placing a hand on Talsin’s shoulder.  “It’s alright, Aramis.  You can trust her.  She’s not like Ashworth.”

After a long moment, he nodded.  He left to find one of the servants, to ask them to get whale oil from the emergency stockpile.  Alexandria, Billie, and Talsin were left in his office.  Talsin opened her bag and pulled out what looked like an ancient journal, flipping through its pages.  Billie caught a glimpse of complicated diagrams and spidery writing when she was tapped on the shoulder.

“May I speak with you for a moment?” Alexandria asked.

Billie nodded, then followed Alexandria out into the hall.  They stopped by the railing that overlooked the ballroom, where Alexandria turned towards Billie, her expression serious.

“I think she’s talking about the world being destroyed,” she said.

Billie took a moment to absorb that.  “Shit,” she muttered.  “I hate being caught up in this stuff.”

Alexandria shook her head.  “I know,” she said.  “But right now it seems that you don’t have a choice.  I don’t understand everything she said, but it sounds like you’re the... first symptom of a larger problem.  Eventually, whatever’s wrong will destroy you.”

“Comforting.”

“My guess is that things will start to accelerate significantly after that.”  Alexandria tapped her chin with her index finger.  “Most likely, many others here in Karnaca will start to undergo the same thing you’ve been going through.  Those of us who have already died in the other timeline will likely die almost immediately.  The fabric of reality itself might start to collapse - “

“Is there a point to this, Alexandria?” Billie hissed.  

Alexandria seemed to be taking this all very calmly, especially considering that she was one of the ones who had already died in the other timeline.  Lucia was another; Aramis a third.  Not to mention that the other Emily was well on her way to helping the rest of Karnaca along.  

“My point,” Alexandria said, “is that whatever Talsin might think, it... may not be possible to stop it.  And I want you to be prepared for that.”

Billie couldn’t believe what she was hearing.  “You’re giving up?”

It was too much like the version of Hypatia that she’d met in the other timeline - resigned to her fate, believing that she wasn’t worthy of being saved.  Focused so much on the murders that she wasn’t truly responsible for, no matter that it was her hands who had done the deed - 

“Wait,” Billie said, before Alexandria could respond.  “This isn’t about the Crown Killer, is it?”

Alexandria’s bowed head was all the answer she needed.

“Alexandria,” Billie said, grabbing her by the shoulders.  “That - you  _ know  _ that that wasn’t your fault.  The Duke  _ used  _ you - you weren’t even aware - “

“She isn’t gone.”

Billie froze.

Alexandria was shaking her head, her eyes downcast.  “The Crown Killer - Grim Alex - she isn’t gone, Meagan.  It’s... I’m aware of her now, and it’s like there’s a wall between us that wasn’t there before, but - I can still feel her, sometimes.  Just after I’ve woken up from the nightmares, or when I’m looking in the mirror and I can see her.”

She started to pace, her movements growing agitated.  “It’s like when bile rises in your throat, or you’re about to sneeze and you know it’s coming but you can’t do anything to stop it.”  She spun towards Billie, a snarl on her face.  “It’s like waiting for the inevitable moment when a tiger escapes its cage!”

Billie slapped her.

Alexandria blinked at her in shock, one hand automatically going up to her cheek.  

“Calm down,” Billie ordered.  “So maybe the counter-serum didn’t cure you.  Maybe there never was a cure to begin with.  If that bothers you so much, then think of it this way: the counter-serum gave control back to  _ you _ .  Maybe she’s still there, but whether or not she comes out again is up to you.  And you haven’t failed yet.”

“One day I might.”

“Maybe,” Billie admitted.  She’d never been in the business of lying to people.  Softening her tone, she asked, “Have you told anyone else this?”

Alexandria shook her head.  “Just you.”

“Why me?  Why now?”

The doctor shrugged.  “When you hear about impending doom, it’s harder to keep your secrets, I suppose.  I felt like I owed it to you.  After you and the Empress played a role in helping me, it was hard not to feel like at least one of you should know.”

That, and Billie guessed that Alexandria was just tired of hiding it.

“Tell someone else,” she said quietly.  Alexandria began shaking her head, but Billie continued anyway.  “Someone besides me needs to know, Alexandria.  Tell Lucia.  Tell  _ someone  _ \- someone who might be able to help you if things get out of hand.”

Alexandria lifted her head, her gaze catching Billie’s.  Billie held it for the longest minute of her life before Alexandria finally nodded in agreement.

“I suppose I should go see if I can offer my assistance to Talsin,” she murmured.  She went back into the study, and a moment later Billie could hear the two exchanging words.  Talsin sounded happy to have someone interested in helping her, and Alexandria’s tone was as bright as usual.

_ Too  _ bright, Billie now realized.

She was about to go back into the study itself when she found herself lying on cold, hard stone, her head throbbing in pain.  It felt like the wind had been knocked out of her, and she struggled to sit up.

Someone shoved her back down.

“Stay still.  You hit your head.”

Mindy.

Billie gritted her teeth and used Foresight.  The pain left her momentarily as she floated upwards, able to now see around her.  The bodies of several Howlers littered the ground around them, one of which had been ripped in half - a symptom of Emily’s Shadow Walk.  Mindy was frozen in the middle of pressing a wad of cloth to a gaping hole in Daud’s side.

Billie returned to her body so quickly that it felt like her spirit was slammed back into it.  

“Shit,” she rasped.  “Is he...?”

“Not dead yet,” Mindy replied.  “He managed to get our dear Empress pretty good before he went down - that’s why she didn’t stick around.”

The ‘yet’ didn’t go unnoticed.  Billie couldn’t even move to get to him because of her Void-forsaken head injury.  She became aware of a set of footsteps approaching, but if Mindy wasn’t worried about it, then neither was she.

Sure enough, there were rustling sounds that meant that someone was crouching next to her, and then Ysannifer’s face appeared in her field of vision.

“Hold still,” Ysannifer ordered.  Now she sounded exactly like how Billie remembered her, as though only an hour away from the Overseers had brought her back to life.  “This was easier when you were unconscious.”

She carried several strips of cloth, and Billie stayed as motionless as she could while Ysannier wrapped them around her head.  Even now, while she was patching Billie up, she still managed to fix Billie with an accusatory glare.

“You failed to mention that you were fighting the usurper.”

It took Billie a few moments to realize that Ysannifer was talking about Emily.  

“Got a problem with that?” she asked.

“On the contrary,” Ysannifer said.  “You should’ve mentioned it sooner.  I might’ve been more inclined to trust you.”

Of course.  In a world where Ysannifer never became disillusioned by Delilah’s methods, she would still despise Emily.  

Ysannifer finished wrapping Billie’s head, tying the bandages securely but not too tight.  Billie would’ve nodded in thanks, had she not known that nodding would probably only make her head hurt more.

“We’re going to have to move you,” Ysannifer told her.  “We would prefer not to, but we’re sitting ducks right now.  If the usurper comes back...”

She didn’t need to finish that sentence.  

“That’s fine,” Billie said.  “Do what you have to.”

On Billie’s right side came Mindy’s voice.  “I’m losing him.”

The surge of panic that went through Billie at that statement surprised even her, and she rolled onto her side before Ysannifer could protest.  Daud and Mindy were only a few feet away.  Mindy was lifting bloodied hands away from the wound, and Daud was staring at Billie, his eyes half in and out of focus.

Billie cursed her head, which prevented her from scooting any closer.

“I’d hoped you would be here,” he said.  “I hoped, when this day came...”

“I don’t know what I was hoping.”

Daud snorted.  “Probably that I’d kick the bucket before you ever saw me again.”

That startled a choked laugh out of Billie.  She reached out with a shaking hand, hoping that the distance between them wasn’t too much.  Daud did, as well, and Billie almost screamed in frustration when there was still a few inches of space between the two of them.  

Then Mindy was hoisting Daud up, shoving him forward a few inches.  “You’re dying anyway, might as well manhandle you,” she muttered.  Then she stood, moving a few feet away.  Ysannifer went to join her.

Billie grabbed at Daud’s hand, holding it maybe a bit too tightly.  He smiled at her - a real smile, one that she never thought she’d see from him.  For that one moment, she was able to ignore the blood that stuck to his clothes, pooling beneath him.

“I’m sorry,” Billie said quietly.  “I’m sorry - I wanted to be here, I  _ should’ve  _ been here - “

“Don’t.”  The word was spoken with force, and Billie stopped immediately.  “If I had just left you there, where the Empress could’ve easily slain you, I would never have forgiven myself.  Just... I’m glad that there was one thing I was able to do right.”

“You being dead isn’t right.  Not after all this.”

“None of this is right.”  Daud laughed, in spite of the pain it obviously caused him.  “That’s what the Outsider told me.  Everything here is wrong, Billie.  You can find a way to fix it.”

Billie snorted.  “Putting all that pressure on me old man?  What a way to go.”

“I know you love her.”

Any words that Billie had been about to say failed her, then.  Daud had a faraway look on his face, at that moment, and Billie found herself wondering if the Outsider had told him about that, or if he was - somehow - realizing that through the Daud in the other timeline.

Daud’s grip on her hand tightened.  “Don’t give up on that, Billie.  More than anyone I know, you deserve to be happy.”

That was a bald-faced lie, but Billie didn’t call him out on it.  Instead, she focused on committing his face to memory, watch as his skin grew pale from the blood loss.  Eventually, after an eternity of listening to him struggle for breath, the hand gripping hers went slack.  

Billie only had a few seconds of lying there, her heart hammering in her chest, before two pairs of hands hoisted her up.  Mindy and Ysannifer carried her between them, ignoring Billie’s murmured protests about leaving Daud’s body there.  Her vision started to swim as her own injury started to take its toll.  

They had just made it to the boat in the canal, where the remainder of the Howlers were, when Billie shifted back to Aramis’ study.  She was propped up against the wall, while a few feet away Alexandria and Talsin were painting symbols on the floor using whale oil.  Billie blinked blearily for a few moments before her emotions caught up with her.

She staggered upright.  “I need a minute,” she gasped, unsure of who she was speaking to.  “I - “

She hurried out of the room before anyone could respond.

* * *

 

The shifts were happening with more frequency.

The amount of time that Billie spent in each timeline still varied - she might have only spent ten minutes in one, and then several hours in another - but there was no denying that it was happening more and more, and she didn’t want to think about what it would be like once it started to happen constantly.  Every time she came to in the good timeline, Talsin and Alexandria would look more worried.

In the other timeline, Ysannifer seemed to have attached herself to Billie’s side.  Whether it was because Billie had rescued her from the Overseers or because Billie had made some other impression on her, she was always there when she came to.  Her head still throbbed, and she never really had a clue as to where they were (on the boat the first few times, but later in a room she didn’t know), but Ysannifer was there, and it was enough to ground her.

The day was very almost over.  Talsin and Alexandria were almost finished laying out the symbols needed for the ritual, while Stilton looked on anxiously.  Billie had wandered outside, noting that the time was fast approaching ten once more, and prepared for... what?  A goodbye?  She hoped not.

“Emily,” she said.  “I don’t really know what to say, this time.  Talsin’s here.  We have a plan.  It’s... not much of a plan, to be honest.  I don’t know what’ll happen afterwards, but whatever does, I love you.  You have to know that.”

Her voice nearly broke on those words, and for the first time, she felt afraid.  

“I’m glad you’re not here to see this,” she whispered, then spun on her heels and went back inside, not caring if Emily was still scrying.

Talsin was standing in the center of Aramis’ study when she arrived, her hands smudged blue with whale oil.  She looked about as anxious as Billie felt, wringing her hands together as she turned in a circle.  She was muttering to herself, apparently going over the ritual with herself.  At one point, Billie thought she saw Talsin’s Mark glow.  

“Hey,” Billie said.  “It’s okay, Talsin.  You can do this.”

Talsin gave her a shaky smile.  “It’ll be very delicate.  The window to the Void is already here - I can feel it - but it’s too small right now.  If I can widen the entrance, you should be able to slip through to the other side.”

“What am I going to find there?”

“Hopefully the Outsider.  He said he’d meet you.”

A thought occurred to Billie, accompanied by a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.  She looked at Talsin.  “Will I be able to come back the same way?”

Talsin hesitated.  “In theory, yes.  But I can’t make any guarantees.  I’m sorry.”

Billie gave her a nod, which was both an acceptance of what might happen and a sign that she was ready.  Talsin moved to one side of the pattern on the floor, gesturing for everyone else to stand back.  An unearthly light filled her eyes, and that same light lit up the brand on her hand, coloring it a brilliant red.

The whale oil started to grow brighter.  Billie could hear the whispers again, akin to the ritual she’d performed months ago.  The Void started to claw its way up through her, and she actually choked on it for a minute, feeling like she might burst with it.  No one else seemed to notice, but for a few moments, she was drowning again.

The sensation left her almost as quickly as it came, leaving her gasping for air.  In front of her, discoloring the world, was a... a rift, was the only way she could describe it.  She glanced at Talsin, who nodded at her quickly, looking nervous.  

Billie moved towards the hole, but just as she reached it, everything shifted again.

She didn’t have much time to react.  

The building was under attack (how many times was she going to be attacked while on a boat, anyway?); that much was obvious.  Shouts rang out around her, and she thought she could hear gunfire as well.  Ysannifer was still crouched over her, teeth bared, staring defiantly at something Billie couldn’t see.

She turned her head.

_ Emily. _

Not now.  It was the  _ worst  _ possible time - just when she might have made it into the Void, where she could apparently fix everything that was going wrong.  Emily was bleeding from a cut on her face, and seemed to be sporting a deeper wound in her shoulder (probably courtesy of Daud), but she was upright, and she was staring at Ysannifer and Billie with a triumphant smirk on her face.

“Maybe I’ll have to start over,” she said, somehow audible over the din.  “But then, no one’s going to know this time.”

Ysannifer let out a yell and ran for Emily, Billie’s whaler sword clutched in her right hand.  To Billie’s surprise, she seemed to be able to hold her own against Emily, her own experience with magic presumably allowing her to anticipate Emily’s moves.  Billie struggled to sit up, ignoring how it made her head throb, and blinked when she realized that she could still hear the whispers.

Whispers, and whalesong.

She craned her neck to look behind her.  The entrance to the Void was still there, somehow open in this world as well, even though the person who had opened it was in another timeline.  Billie struggled to her feet, aware of the sounds of people clashing in the hall but knowing that she had to get into the Void.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered - to Ysannifer, maybe, or maybe to Daud, turning back to look just as Ysannifer was thrown through the doorway by Emily.

She caught Emily’s gaze for a split second before she fell into the Void.

* * *

_I keep a close watch on this heart of mine_   
_I keep my eyes wide open all the time_   
_I keep the ends out for the tie that binds_   
_Because you're mine, I walk the line_

-Halsey, "I Walk The Line" (originally by Johnny Cash)

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is probably the most important one, so I'll try not to fuck it up.


	12. Part XI

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The penultimate chapter.

The first thing that struck her was the silence.

After months and months of having the whispers as a backdrop, or even just the mundane sounds of a city around her, it was almost a relief.  Billie’s breathing and heart beat were loud in her ears, but they were the only sounds.  She closed her eyes for a moment.

A sharp intake of breath behind her made her whirl around.

“How did you manage _this_?”

The Knife was in Billie’s hand before she even thought about it.  She held it before her defensively, but Emily didn’t seem interested in attacking her.  She was pacing in a circle instead, taking in their surroundings.  Billie didn’t miss the fact that her folding blade was held loosely in her grip.

She also didn’t miss the fact that she still had her otherworldly arm and eye, but was wearing the white overcoat from the other timeline.  It seemed that the two versions of her had found some way of compromising with each other, now that she was in the Void.  She wondered if that meant that her other self had been pulled in at the same time that she had entered.

All around them was stagnant, dark water.  Billie noticed, for the first time, that they were standing on it, but not sinking through it, which was... weird.  She could see shadows of whales swimming through the air, but there was no sign of the Outsider, and there appeared to be no one else there.

Billie didn’t let her guard down for a second.

“I didn’t even know this was possible,” Emily marveled.  It was only then that she seemed to notice Billie’s death-glare, smiling at her.  “It’s funny that you thought you could escape, Billie.”

“Void take you,” Billie snarled.

“We’re already here.”  Emily unsheathed her folding blade, holding it at her side.  “I’m not about to let you ruin this, Billie.  I’m not about to let anyone stop me.”

“I’m sorry if I wasn’t on board with you burning an entire city to the ground,” Billie said.

To her surprise, Emily threw her head back and laughed.  “You think that _that’s_ what I was doing?  You have no idea of the _rot_ that’s taken root here.  If you knew what I know about Karnaca, you wouldn’t be so eager to save these people.  Hell, I’m willing to bet that you’d be just as eager to burn this place down.”

“Not everyone deserves that,” Billie countered.  “Maybe no one does.  And anyway, it’s not our call to make.”

“Not yours, maybe,” Emily said, her stance changing slightly.  “But it is mine.”

“Is it, Empress?”

Billie nearly jumped a foot in the air as the Outsider materialized next to her.  His expression was blank as he regarded Emily.  For her part, Emily didn’t look surprised to see him.  

“This is for you as much as it is for the good of the Empire,” Emily said.  “I don’t see why you’d object.”

“It may surprise you to know that I’m not, in fact, in favor of mass murder.”

“No?”  Emily prowled a few steps closer, causing Billie to tighten her grip on her sword.  “You realize it would mean no more victims like you, right?  No more helpless orphans being stolen off the streets, and made to be sacrifices for horrific blood rituals?  Isn’t that worth any price?”

“I almost envy you,” the Outsider murmured, shaking his head.  “That the line is so clear to you.”

“What is she talking about?” Billie asked.

“Nothing to do with what you are here for, Billie Lurk.”

That was probably as close to ‘none of your business’ as the Outsider would get, so Billie didn’t pry.  Emily, on the other hand, was looking between the two of them, as though piecing together a puzzle in her head.  Her eyes traveled to Billie’s right arm, and then to her eye.

Her mouth formed a silent ‘o’.  Then, without warning, she lunged.

Billie barely had time to parry.  Emily’s fury was silent, but it was no less deadly for it.  She used Foresight to plant a marker somewhere far from Emily, but it barely gave her a moment of reprieve as Emily used Far Reach to catch up to her.  Even injured as she was, Emily was proving to be a formidable opponent.  

Billie’s head injury was no longer affecting her, but even then she was having difficulty keeping up.

They locked swords for a moment, and both took it as an opportunity to kick the other away, falling back.  Billie Displaced behind Emily, who used Shadow Walk to dodge underneath Billie’s swing.  Then it was another game of keepaway, as Billie desperately avoided Emily.

A thought occurred to her, and she reached for something that she wasn’t sure she’d be able to access.  She almost shouted in triumph as she, too, dissolved into a mass of shadows.

Emily reformed, pure shock on her face.  “How?” she demanded.

It was Billie’s turn to chase after Emily, though Emily didn’t have as many reservations about attacking Billie while in shadow form.  Her sword sliced through her, and Billie grimaced as she felt a white-hot flare of agony.  She couldn’t keep Shadow Walk up for long, reforming quickly to find that there was a gash on her upper left arm.

They were both breathing heavily now, filling the silence.  The Outsider had disappeared.

“I can’t forgive you,” Emily said suddenly.  “I _won’t_.”

Billie didn’t move.  “I know.”

They both moved at the same time: Emily activating Far Reach and Billie bracing herself, raising her sword to parry another blow.  As Emily’s sword bounced off of hers, Billie used Foresight, placing a Displace marker a few feet behind Emily.  She had just enough time to ready her wristbow.

Emily whirled around.  Billie aimed and fired a voltaic shot.

She missed.

The next thing she knew, Emily’s blade was up against her throat, though it didn’t bite into the skin just yet.  Billie held herself still, feeling the same fear she’d felt all those years ago, when Daud had had her in the same position.  She didn’t close her eyes, memorizing Emily’s face, still glad in some way that it was the last face she’d see.

The pain she was waiting for never came.

Instead, Emily made a choking sound, and a moment later the sword fell from her grip.  Billie threw herself away from her, staring at the point of a sword that protruded from Emily’s front.  

Whoever was behind her shoved her forward, and as Emily collapsed, Billie had to blink a few times to make sure she wasn’t seeing things.  Behind Emily stood... well, Emily.  Holding an identical (if bloodied) sword, her mouth set in a hard line as she looked at the body in front of her.  When she turned her attention to Billie, however, her expression fractured into something like relief.

“ _Billie_ ,” she said, stumbling over.  “Billie, oh god, are you - “

Billie push herself to her feet in time for Emily to throw her arms around her.  She let out a shuddering breath, letting her weight sink into Emily, who held her up easily.  Burying her face into Emily’s shoulder, feeling Emily’s arms tighten around her, feeling _safe_ for the first time -

It felt like coming home.

She was the first to pull back, though, unsure of how much time she had.  

“Billie,” Emily whispered, reaching up to cup Billie’s face in her hands.  One thumb stroked the cheek with Billie’s red eye.  “What - “

“It’s a long story,” Billie said, trying her best to allay Emily’s worry.  “It doesn’t hurt, I promise.  How did you get here?”

Emily smirked at her.  “What, you thought I’d listen when you told me to stay away?  You know me better than that.”

Billie rolled her eyes.  “Well, I can’t really argue with that, considering.”  She avoided looking at the body of the other Emily.  

“I came after I scryed you for the first time, and went into the Void after Talsin told me what happened,” Emily explained.  “You made it seem like you were handling it, but I _saw_ , Billie.  I saw what was happening at Stilton’s mansion, when you looked at it.  I saw it, and... I remembered.”

Billie raised an eyebrow at her.  “Remembered...?”

“I remembered that this is my fault.”

“You couldn’t have known - “

“No, but it should’ve been obvious,” Emily said.  “I should’ve known that there would be consequences to changing the past.  I should’ve known that it would’ve been more than just improving the lives of the people in the Dust District.”

“If you can claim that, Emily, then I am just as much at fault.”

Billie and Emily moved apart as the Outsider reappeared, though Emily caught Billie’s hand and didn’t let go.  Billie squeezed it a bit tighter than she probably should have, unsure of why she suddenly felt afraid.

“You’re not the one who decided to change the past,” Emily pointed out.

“Maybe not,” the Outsider said.  “But if I had known the impact that your actions would have had, I wouldn’t have given you the timepiece to begin with.  I could have contented myself with simply telling you of what occurred at Stilton’s mansion that night, but instead I thought it better that you witness it for yourself.  I didn’t foresee that it would create a wound in time - a fracture, that has only been growing since it occurred.”

“What do you mean?” Billie asked.  

The Outsider started his customary pacing.  “Think of it this way: when Emily decided to put Aramis Stilton to sleep, it created a fracture in time itself.  That fracture caused the timeline to split in two, in _both_ directions.  Events in the past were twisted in one, and remained the same in the other.  The future underwent a similar change.”

“You mean that the other timeline isn’t supposed to exist at all?” Billie asked.

“No.”

Billie bared her teeth, suddenly angry.  “The people there - their struggles, their hopes - those were _real_.  Daud, Mindy, Ysannifer - “

Emily started.  “Ysannifer was there?  And _Daud_?”

“They were real,” the Outsider acknowledged, ignoring Emily’s question.  “And the scars of their lives will not disappear so easily.  The Void will likely carry on the memory of it, forever.  But the Void cannot fix this fracture.  It’s trying to, make no mistake - it cannot reconcile the two timelines coexisting - but it will destroy them both soon enough.”

“You’re saying there’s nothing we can do.”

“Did I say that?” the Outsider asked.  “The Void can’t fix this.  So the Void chose _you_ to fix it instead.”

Billie felt like her heart had frozen in her chest instead.  The whispers, the feeling of drowning - the way that she felt the need to take more of the Void -

“Why me?” she managed to ask.

“Truthfully?”  The Outsider shrugged.  “I don’t know.  It could have just as easily chosen Aramis Stilton; he was equally affected.  But sometimes the Void surprises even me.  It does not exactly have a mind of its own, but sometimes it isn’t quite... as unaware as one might think.”

“Why can’t _you_ fix it?” she asked.

“I exist outside of time.  I cannot interfere.”

Billie glanced at Emily, finding her watching her with a worried expression.  She felt like she was standing on the edge of a cliff, and that if she just took one step forward, she would fall and be lost forever.

Steeling herself, she looked at the Outsider.  “What do I need to do?”

“You have the Knife?”

Billie summoned it to her hand.  

“Good,” he said.  “If you follow me, I can take you where you need to go.”

“ _No_.”

Both Billie and the Outsider turned to Emily, who looked absolutely livid.  She was glaring at the Outsider, looking like she wanted to run him through right then and there.  

“No,” she repeated.  “You want her to _replace_ you.”

“Emily - “ Billie began.

“Billie, for him to become what he is, he had to _die_!”

In a steady voice, the Outsider said to Billie, “If you don’t become the avatar of the Void, then you won’t be able to fix the fracture.  The people you love - including Emily - will all be wiped from existence.  None of you are safe, even in the Void.”

“There _has_ to be another way,” Emily insisted.

“Stop,” Billie said, silencing both of them.  She closed her eyes, thinking about the long months of being unsure of what was real, and the weeks that followed where she was fighting for her life in one timeline and fighting for answers in the other.  Had it all really been leading up to this - her, sacrificing her life so that she could sit in the Void, watching things from afar, never interfering?

Not living.  That was for certain.

She opened her eyes, looking at the Outsider.  “ _Is_ there another way?”

For the first time (in the short time she’d known him), the Outsider looked hesitant.  He bowed his head for a moment, hiding his expression from both of them.  Emily squeezed Billie’s hand, giving her a weak smile.

“There is,” the Outsider said quietly.  “It is possible for you to fix the fracture without first becoming the avatar.  But the danger to you is tenfold.  You will have none of the protection that the Void can offer you.  You may be ripped apart, and that will mean your entire existence, not just you as you are now.”

“But if I succeed?”

“I cannot say for certain,” the Outsider said.  “But if you succeed, it is possible you will be able to live out your life as it was before.”

“Then I’ll take that chance.”

Emily bit her lip.  “I honestly don’t know which option I hate more,” she admitted.  “But it’s not my decision.”

Billie tugged on Emily’s hand, pulling her forward and kissing her.  Not exactly the time or place, but she didn’t know when they were going to get another chance.  She tried to convey all the love she felt, everything that she’d never been able to put into words, hoping that Emily would carry that with her.

Once they parted, she said, “Thank you for being here.  But you should go back.”

Emily shook her head, but the Outsider agreed with Billie.  

“You’re safe enough back in your timeline, for now,” he told her.  “Go.”

“I’ll come back to you,” Billie said firmly, trying to convince herself as much as convince Emily.  “I will.”

Emily inclined her head, holding Billie’s gaze, searching for something.  Whatever it was she was looking for, she apparently found it, because she nodded and pivoted on her heels, walking back in the direction of the rift.  Billie didn’t watch her go, turning instead to the Outsider.

“Lead the way,” she said.

* * *

 

The fracture became fairly obvious as they got close to it.  Thin tendrils of light protruded from a blinding fissure in the air, and they seemed to stretch on and on into the Void.  Billie avoided touching any of them as she and the Outsider approached, hearing a sound like the crackling of an audiograph.

“I have to go in there, don’t I.”  It wasn’t a question.

“Yes,” the Outsider said.  “Once you’re inside, you’ll be able to see all of it - the endless possibilities, every choice that could’ve changed things.  You’ll have to find the pivotal moment - not when Emily chose to use a sleep dart on Aramis Stilton, but the moment when I give her the means to do so, and you’ll have to set it right.”

“How?” Billie asked.

The Outsider smiled ruefully.  “That I can’t answer.  Even I don’t know.”

“That’s helpful,” she muttered.  

The Outsider put a hand on her shoulder.  “Once you enter, focus on your goal.  Don’t let yourself be distracted by what you might see.  Go in, stop me, and then get out, as fast as you can.”

Billie nodded, ignoring the nausea that rose in her stomach.  She started to walk towards the light, feeling... not the same pressure from the Void, but a different kind of heaviness, pressing down on her.  

She stepped into it, and -

* * *

 

It was a clockwork contraption, as though Emily hadn’t seen enough of those lately.  She sent the Outsider a dubious look, but the sound of Stilton hammering on the piano keys yet again made her jump, startling her into action.  She reached forward, about to grasp the so-called ‘timepiece’.

There was a blinding flash of light, and Meagan appeared in the room.  A Meagan whose missing arm and eye had been replaced with unnatural prosthetics, a Meagan who looked - well, haunted.  She snatched the timepiece out of the air before Emily’s fingers could close around it, then quickly backed away from both the Outsider and Emily.

“You can’t use this,” she said, her voice echoing oddly, like the Outsider’s.  “This will make things so much worse.”

She crushed it with both hands, the contraption fading into gray dust.  Meagan looked at the Outsider.  

“For fuck’s sake,” she said.  “Just _explain_ to her what happened.”

Then she was gone, as though she’d never been there to begin with.

* * *

_I find it very, very easy to be true_   
_I find myself alone when each day is through_   
_Yes, I'll admit that I'm a fool for you_   
_Because you're mine, I walk the line_

-Halsey, "I Walk The Line" (Originally by Johnny Cash)

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Epilogue up next.


	13. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's the epilogue! I hope that y'all are satisfied with the way this ends. It's a bittersweet ending, sort of, but... this is the way it was always going to end, even before DOTO came out.

Billie woke up feeling groggier than usual.  Without opening her eyes, she rolled onto her side, pulling the blanket closer around her.  She could tell that a lamp had been turned on, judging by the yellow glow she could make out from behind closed lids, but she paid no heed to it, wanting nothing more than to go back to sleep.

There was a quiet laugh from beside her, and then lips brushed her temple.

“How the tables have turned,” Emily murmured.  “I know it’s early, but we need to go for your fitting before the meeting with Captain Murrow.”

That sentence was as effective as cold water in waking Billie; she sat up, rubbing her left eye with the heel of her hand.  Emily was moving around the room, already wearing her customary dress shirt and trousers.  Her hair was still loose, however, and Billie took a moment to appreciate the way it draped over her face when she bent down to put on her boots.

“Time?” Billie rasped.

“A little after seven.”

The fitting was scheduled for half-past seven.  Billie stared at the pile of her clothes on the floor, making a note that she’d have to move them back to her quarters if she didn’t want the rumor mill to have something to chew on.  

After getting her hair somewhat under control (Corvo kept reminding her that she needed a haircut; she’d looked at him askance and said, “You’re one to talk”) and pulling on her coat, she and Emily left Emily’s quarters for the Royal Physician’s wing.  Dr. Toksvig nodded to them from her office as they entered, and Billie was relieved to see breakfast laid out in the examination room.  She was suddenly ravenous.

Hypatia and Renata were waiting for them.  Dr. Renata had been Hypatia’s assistant for the last month, but his specialty was working with those who - well, those who lacked certain appendages, to put it lightly.  

Billie started on a piece of toast, eyeing the three prosthetics laid out before her with a critical eye.  She shot Emily a glare when she didn’t make a move to get anything to eat, which prompted Emily to roll her eyes but also to take some food for herself.

“Good morning,” Hypatia said, smiling.  “How’ve you been feeling, Lady Foster?”

Billie swallowed down her toast.  “Not as much of an ache, lately,” she said.  “The exercises that Dr. Toksvig’s been having me do are working.”

“They’d better be!” Toksvig called from her office.  Hypatia laughed.

Renata coughed, probably to hide a laugh.  “I think that’s my cue to jump in,” he said.  “And that, Lady Foster, was our main goal in creating all three of the options you see before you.  We want to ensure that the fit is comfortable, as well as maximizing the amount of motor control you have.  Regretfully, you won’t be able to have full motor control, of course - at least until natural philosophy comes up with a way to create artificial nerves.”

“I’ll live if I can punch someone,” Billie deadpanned.

Renata was in the process of picking up one of the prosthetics when she spoken, and he almost dropped it.  “I can’t tell if you’re joking.”

“She _is_ the Royal Protector,” Emily pointed out, shooting Billie a not-so-subtle look of fondness.

Billie merely raised an eyebrow in reply.

“Ah - quite right,” Renata agreed.  He gestured to Billie, holding the first prosthetic in his hands.  “Coat off, please; it will fit much better without it.”

Billie shrugged off her overcoat, having only a moment to regret the loss of contact with her bone charms.  Emily took it from her, giving her a reassuring glance before she moved it onto a nearby chair.

“Now,” Renata said, while Hypatia started recording notes on a sheet of paper.  “This strap fits over your shoulder, like so...”

* * *

 

When Billie and Emily exited the Royal Physician’s wing nearly an hour later, Billie had an almost-skeletal arm strapped to her shoulder.  That the hand looked like a hand, with fingers and joints and the works, was more of a courtesy than anything else.  But it had been lighter than the others, and it didn’t flop over when she lifted her arms up, so she had a good feeling about this one.

“How’s it feel?” Emily asked.

“Seems fine,” Billie answered.  She did an arm circle, watching as the prosthetic moved along with her arm without flailing through the air.  “Feels good.”

Emily’s staff were polite enough that Billie’s prosthetic didn’t draw stares from any except the more recent additions.  Those whose eyes did linger long enough for Billie to notice received a sharp glare, from either Billie herself, Emily, or both at once.  

After sending another maid scurrying away, Emily leaned in close enough that her lips brushed Billie’s ear.  “You’d think they would be used to seeing an intimidating bodyguard at my side.”

Billie snorted a laugh.  

They spent most of the day in meetings, but Emily’s evening was clear, for once, and they spent it lying on the roof, staring up at the sky.  They couldn’t see much in the way of stars, but the air was fresher out there than it was inside the tower.  Emily was curled into Billie’s side, with Billie’s arm wrapped loosely around her waist.  Her prosthetic rested on the roof on her other side.

It wasn’t completely unheard of for the two of them to just be together in silence, but normally Emily grumbled about the meetings that aggravated her more.  Today, however, Emily seemed content to bury her nose in the crook of Billie’s neck, her breathing steady but not slow enough for sleep.  Billie didn’t move, feeling like she could melt against the roof tiles, for fear of disturbing their small haven.

Eventually, however, their tranquility had to end.  Billie didn’t mind the way it ended, especially when Emily straddled her hips and leaned down to brush her lips against hers.

* * *

 

“Pendleton?” Billie guessed.

Beside her, Corvo shook his head, though his expression was wry.  “That would’ve been my guess too, but no - it’s Morrison.”

Billie turned her gaze to Maurice Morrison (and what an unfortunate name to have), who was taking his seat in Parliament while Billie and Corvo spoke.  The man had a thin mustache and dark hair slicked back with oil, but other than that he was unremarkable.  He was the fidgety type, moving restlessly even once he was seated.

“So he’s the ringleader,” Billie mused.  “He’s the one who’s trying to fight the Empress on Proposal 14?”

Corvo spread his hands.  “He lives in Dunwall, even if he represents another region of Gristol.”  At Billie’s snort, he smirked.  “I never understood that either.  He represents a region but he doesn’t even live there?”

“It’s a power move,” came a voice from behind them.  They both turned around to see Sevrina Alsam striding past.  “Or at least, that’s what I’ve learned since I’ve joined the ranks of the elected officials,” she called, heading towards chairs that had been set aside for the members of the City Council.  

Billie watched her go.  “She’s planning something.  Is Emily in on it?”

“That I can’t say.”

Billie nudged Corvo with her right arm.  “So much for the Spymaster knowing everything.”

Corvo grumbled something, but there wasn’t any bite to it.  Billie turned back to surveying the parliament floor, noting the other members who shuffled in, many looking unhappy about the early hour.  

A nudge on her left drew her attention to Emily, who had just entered behind her.  

“Keep an eye on Bezos,” she murmured, nodding to the man, who was sitting ramrod straight in his chair.  “Not because I think he’s going to do something, but because I think his life might be in danger.”

Billie raised an eyebrow.  “You think someone might be dumb enough to try to kill him here?”

Councilman Bezos wasn’t Billie’s favorite person, being the one who pushed hardest for Proposal 14, but he was sincere in what he wanted to use it for: to be able to curb the Empress’ power in case someone like Delilah ever came along again.  Those who opposed Proposal 14 in parliament did so purely because they didn’t want the City Council having that kind of power, regardless of the fact that Emily had stipulated that parliament also have the ability.

The session had been called to mediate the two sides.  Considering the amount of shit that the council and parliament had thrown at one another since the City Council was created, Billie wouldn’t have been surprised if this turned ugly - but assassination?

Turned out, someone was exactly that stupid.

Billie had the perpetrator on the ground with a knee in his back even without the assistance of Far Reach; moments later, a group of Tower guards rushed over, bundling the man off to Coldridge, where Corvo would interrogate him.  Billie left her customary post beside Emily after that, instead prowling around the edges of the room, knowing that she made everyone present nervous.

The proceedings were significantly more tame after the assassination attempt, and by the time the session was over, the City Council and Parliament had agreed to discuss specific components of Proposal 14 in a future session.  Hardly what Billie would call progress, but it was a start.

She made her way back to Emily as the politicians left, giving Sevrina a nod that the other woman returned.  

“Hypatia spoke to me before she left this morning,” Emily told her, once the floor was deserted.

“Yeah?  What’d she say?”

Emily frowned.  “I’m telling you because she asked me to, but... she’s concerned.  About herself.  She says that she can still feel the Crown Killer.  Grim Alex hasn’t been able to get out since I used the counter-serum, but she’s worried that one day she won’t be able to stop her.  She thought we deserved to know.”

Billie took a moment to mull that over.  “What did you say to her?”

“I told her that I trust her,” Emily said, shrugging.  “I also told her that if it’s really worrying her, she could try getting help for it.  I know Addermire offers services for dealing with psychological issues, and I know that Hypatia’s not in charge of it, so she could technically get help from them too - they’re the ones trying to help Stilton, right?”

“That’s what I’ve been told.”  Billie wanted to visit him at some point, and see how he was doing, but she knew that that would be difficult unless Emily herself had cause to go to Karnaca.  “I’ve heard he seems a bit better.  Has fewer panic attacks.”

“Baby steps, I guess,” Emily murmured.  

“You got him out of that damn house, at least.”

Emily made a face.  “I did what I could to help him.  Sometimes I wish I could’ve done more.”

Billie raised an eyebrow.  “You mean travel back in time and saving him?  Which you no doubt would’ve done if some doppelganger of mine hadn’t appeared out of nowhere and basically said, ‘fuck no’.”

“Yeah,” Emily said.  “I’m still not over how weird that was.”

“ _You’re_ not over it?” Billie raised an eyebrow.  “It was apparently me, but I don’t remember it.  Definitely never had a rock for an eye.”

“Never say never,” Emily warned.  

Billie rolled her eyes, moving towards the exit of the parliamentary floor, ending the conversation with, “The day I have a rock for an eye is the day that the Abbey decides to follow the orders of a heretic.”

* * *

 

One minute, Billie was drifting off, Emily’s arms around her, and the next, she was in the Void.

It had to be the Void  - it fit the description Emily gave almost exactly: lots of gray, floating slate rocks, and whales swimming slowly in the distance.  A sense of dread crept over her, and she turned in a circle, tempted to call out to the Outsider to just get it over with.

Except it wasn’t the Outsider she saw.  It was herself.

Herself, as Emily had described seeing her back in Aramis’ manor.  She did, indeed, have a rock for an eye (a rock that glowed red - Emily hadn’t mentioned _that_ part), in addition to a skeletal arm.  It wasn’t unlike the prosthetic that she wore during the day, but she felt a shudder go through her when she realized that it was actually _attached_ to the rest of her arm.

Her other self seemed to be staring right through her, not seeing her.  Every so often her form wavered, as though she wasn’t completely there.

“She’s the closest thing to a ghost you could think of.”

The Outsider appeared next to the other Billie, who didn’t react to his appearance whatsoever.  He smiled at Billie, which would’ve been peculiar enough, except he seemed almost sad.

“An imprint, left in the Void, existing outside of time.  Not unlike me, I suppose.  She’s what was left behind when you - or rather, she - fixed the wound in time caused by Emily and I.  I didn’t know for sure, but all wounds leave scars.”

Billie shook her head.  “I don’t understand.”

“You’re not meant to,” the Outsider said.  “It’s a kindness.  A kindness I’d like to allow you, but I realized that not offering you a choice is not a kindness.”

Billie curled her hands into fists.  “What choice?  What do you want?”

“A scar cannot simply be wiped out,” the Outsider said.  “But in this instance, it can be moved.  She is in the Void, and in a place like this, she suffers.  You could take her, but the memories will not be ones you want.”

“So,” Billie said.  “It’s that, or leave her here.”

“Yes.”  The Outsider paused.  “You won’t fully comprehend what that means unless you take her with you.  But... I owe it to both of you to tell you of this.  Even if your choice is to leave her here - a choice I cannot fault you for - you deserved to know.”

Billie stared at her other self.  The image wavered again, staring ahead.  It seemed like a wretched fate, and the vacant stare reminded her a bit too much of her days after Deirdre’s death, but... at the same time, she wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

Tentatively, she stepped forward, grabbing one of the other Billie’s hands in her own.

Immediately, the other Billie’s gaze snapped to her.  She felt like she was pinned, like the red eye was seeing _through_ her as well as looking at her.  

“You,” she said, her voice distorted.  “What are - is everything alright, where you are?  Is Emily alright?”

Billie’s voice sounded too steady to her ears when she answered.  “Emily’s fine.  She’s safe.”

The other Billie closed her eye.  “It feels like no time has passed,” she murmured.  “Or maybe it’s been eternity.  I don’t... always remember, but I remember everything.  Everything that happened.  In both timelines.”  Her eye flew back open, and her grip on Billie’s hand tightened.  “Don’t take that.  You don’t want that.”

“I don’t want to leave you here.”

“Oh, did _he_ tell you that?”  The sarcasm in her voice surprised Billie.  “He’s been wrong a lot lately, don’t listen to him.  I just need to know one thing.”

“I might not know the answer,” Billie warned.

Her other self laughed.  “I see why people think we’re brutally honest.  You’re happy, right?  Wherever you are, whatever you’re doing... you’re happy?”

Billie nodded without hesitation.  That was an easy question - it wasn’t easy, but she was happy.  Happier than she’d been in a long time.

The other Billie gave her an exhausted smile.  “Good,” she whispered.  “That’s good.”

Her grip on Billie’s hand loosened.  Without warning, she started to dissolve, into shards of gray light, floating away into the Void.  Billie was left with her arm held out, and what she was sure was a dumbstruck expression.  She glanced at the Outsider, who was staring at where her echo had been with a look of wonder on his face.

“You never fail to surprise me,” he murmured.  

Billie woke with a start, her sharp inhalation enough to stir Emily from her sleep.  Emily blinked a few times at her.

“‘S wrong?  Nightmare?”

“Not... exactly,” Billie said.

“Hmm?  Sounds interesting.”

“I dunno about that,” Billie said.  She relaxed back onto the pillow, closing her eyes, feeling oddly peaceful.  “I think I learned something from it.”

“Wassat?”

Emily was probably already asleep by the time Billie answered, in a whisper, “I guess some scars do heal, in the end.”

* * *

 

_You've got a way to keep me on your side_   
_You give me cause for love that I can't hide_   
_For you I know I'd even try to turn the tide_

_Because you're mine, I walk the line_

_-_ Halsey, "I Walk The Line" (originally by Johnny Cash)

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes on the story:
> 
> 1\. The very basic plot of this story was planned out from the very start. I wanted to show themes of consequences, choices, and healing, and I hope that those themes came through in the story.
> 
> 2\. You might be wondering why, in my fic, I reject the theory of multiple parallel universes for Dishonored. In this instance, it's mostly because of the Void. I'm just not sure how I would handle the Void if there were infinite parallel universes, hence why the two timelines couldn't coexist at the same time. 
> 
> 3\. High chaos timeline trivia: Corvo was executed, Emily killed every target in Dishonored 2, Daud tried to kill Billie and failed, Corvo tried to kill Daud (and failed). Delilah didn't die, but that's mostly because she dragged herself into the painting before she could kick the bucket, saving herself (but also trapping herself). 
> 
> 4\. The Void in this is... not exactly a conscious entity, but it definitely has a will.
> 
> 5\. The echo of Billie in the Void was, technically, only there for a day before current Billie put her to rest, but considering the Void exists outside of time, you could interpret it as her being there for a while. Also, she was only an echo, not quite a physical being, so there was no way to pull her separately to the real world. If you're worried about Billie as she was in the majority of the story, current Billie _is her_. That is her spirit. The echo is just that - an echo.
> 
> 6\. High chaos timeline!Talsin did not suffer at the hands of the Overseers. She went into hiding after Delilah was killed. 
> 
> 7\. Emily's rant about Karnaca being rotten was referring to the Eyeless. This may or may not be the subject of a (significantly more lighthearted) sequel. I haven't decided yet.
> 
> 8\. Proposal 14, while being something I kept bringing up, doesn't actually have a lot of significance to any plot. It was just something I enjoyed playing around with for political drama purposes. Plus it gave me an excuse to throw Sevrina back in there.
> 
> That's all I can think of as far as notes go. Now, I want to say: thanks so much to all who have been supporting this fic. Your comments have given me the inspiration I needed to keep going, even when I felt like my writing was taking a turn for the worse. And thanks also to all who gave this fic a shot, even if the pairing isn't your jam, and were pleasantly surprised. 
> 
> I won't be writing any major fanfiction for a while; I'm going to spend NaNoWriMo focusing on an original work. Depending on how that goes, it might even take up my time past November. But I wanted to make sure that I got this finished before then, so I could put 100 percent of my focus on it. Plus I just like being able to finish something.
> 
> Thanks again, and I hope you liked this crazy rollercoaster!

**Author's Note:**

> If you want to talk to me more about Dishonored, you can hit me up at my [tumblr](https://darknessfactor.tumblr.com).


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